The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on R4 Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 28 DECEMBER 2019

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000cn2f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:15 Living Memory (m0005t92)
Dear Me! What Next?

There's an estimated 15,000 people in Britain who have reached the age of 100 and received the famous telegram from the Queen. That's 0.02% of the overall population.

Over five programmes, we hear from some of them about the lives they've led, their experiences in the last 100 years, the lessons they've learned and how they view the future.

Today, Londoners born around the end of the First World War - including Beattie Orwell who reached political consciousness fighting Oswald Mosley's fascists in Cable Street, and Classicist Joyce Reynolds who still researches in Cambridge University library three times a week - consider the "gloomy" state of the world around them and the kind of attitude people need to keep upbeat.

Produced by Alia Cassam
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Last Christmas (m000cn2h)
Episode 5

Curated by Greg Wise and Emma Thompson this collection of personal writings reflects on the meaning of Christmas, drawing on the themes of kindness, acceptance and tolerance. In today's episode, the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, on how the Christmas message of hope, peace and community is universal. Refugee Tindyebwa Agaba follows, with his account of childhood Christmases in Rwanda, before the militia arrived.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cn2k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cn2m)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cn2p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m000cn2r)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cn2t)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Today, Holy Innocents’ Day, is an opportunity to remember all the children of today’s world who are caught up in and suffer from adult disputes of one sort or another. A UN report published earlier this year suggested that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in conflict. There were 12,000 killed or maimed, the highest number since the United Nations began monitoring. It’s chilling to think that the world is so violent 2000 years after Jesus was born.

Shortly after his birth, King Herod heard about the birth of the king of the Jews. Feeling threatened, he ordered the slaughter of all boys under two years of age. Christians remember them now as the Holy Innocents. The gospel of Matthew records that, despite this horrific act the attempt was unsuccessful because Joseph and Mary had escaped to Egypt with the baby Jesus.

It’s easy for us to condemn all this appalling violence,. It’s right to do so but before trying to separate ourselves from it entirely we need to look into our own hearts. Jesus pointed out that evil intentions come from within, from the human heart. Are our lives a contribution to the peace of the world? That will depend on what is going on inside us. As St Francis said ‘As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that you have greater peace in your hearts.’

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace,
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m000cl4s)
The Romance of Train Travel

Monisha Rajesh says the romance of train travel is not dead. After exploring the railways of India, she travelled across continents to research her book "Around the World in 80 Trains", discovering that the romance, " Wasn't dead, just reincarnated, living on in the passengers who would always tell their story to strangers, offer advice, share their food, and give up their seats."
Recorded at Primadonna literature and arts festival.
Presenter: Farrah Jarral
Producer: Sheila Cook


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000cpw4)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m000cngx)
In the Bleak Midwinter: Holst's Cotswolds

Helen Mark visits the Cotswold village of Cranham and its surroundings: countryside that was home to the composer Gustav Holst, and now features a walking trail named after him.

Holst grew up among these gently rolling hills, and created several of his works – including the Cotswolds Symphony and his classic arrangement of In The Bleak Midwinter – thanks to inspiration gleaned from his years in the area.

Exploring his old haunts, visiting the church where he had his first job as organist and treading the same hills where Holst used to practice his trombone, Helen discovers how the landscape influenced the composer; and how his own influence lingers on in the area today.

Produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000cpw6)
Farming in the Cradle of Christianity

The Hebridean Isle of Iona is 1.5 miles wide and 3 miles long, with a population of around 120 permanent residents. But each year, the island attracts over 100,000 visitors.

It has been a centre of pilgrimage for centuries and is now home to the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian organisation whose members are spread across the globe. This Community together with the historic Iona Abbey, other religious ruins and the island's legendary beauty, has created a tourist mecca which overruns the island during the summer months. And that means farmers on the island need to be adaptive and infinitely tolerant if they want to continue to operate here too.

Presented and produced by Nancy Nicolson


SAT 06:57 Weather (m000cpw8)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (m000cpwb)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000cpwd)
Michael Rosen

The writer and poet Michael Rosen joins Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein. He shares his discoveries of a lost family found, the importance of play, and tells us how to eat a bagel.
Back by popular demand: the cook Julia Georgallis, gives advice on ‘How to eat your Christmas tree’.
Incurable romantic, William Cash, explains why he has a treasure trove of more than a thousand love letters, archived in a pig shed, and how restoring his family home helped him deal with heartbreak.
Inspired by her experience of suddenly losing her mother, who ‘took her precious memories with her’, Bryher Scudamore set up an online template – autodotbiography. She describes how inheriting a wallet containing letters written by her great-grandfather, led to discovering surprising stories of his life just after the American Civil War.
And Frank Skinner shares his Inheritance Tracks - Winter Wonderland, performed by Dean Martin and George Formby singing Why Women Don’t Like Me.

Producer: Louise Corley
Editor: Eleanor Garland


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000cmzw)
Series 26

Ludlow

Jay Rayner and his culinary panel are in Ludlow. Andi Oliver, Tim Anderson, Sue Lawrence and Polly Russell answer questions from the audience.

This week, the panellists discuss Christmas leftovers reinvented as pies, the perfect canapé and cooking with beer. They also meet Jon Saxon of Dog Hangs Well pub to discuss parlour pubs, and Andrew from Andrew Francis butchers to find out about the Ludlow sausage trail.

Producer: Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 Feeding the Problem (m000cnhc)
Manchester’s Nick Buckley has a message which will seem to some - shocking.
The former homelessness street warden and member of Manchester’s Crime and Disorder team wants you to stop buying sandwiches and food for rough sleepers.
We know the arguments about not giving cash. That it can be spent on drugs, particularly when a hit of spice can cost 80 pence. But we like to think we are helping buy buying an extra sandwich, a coffee or a pastry and handing it to a person on the streets.
Now chief executive of the Charity Mancunian Way, Nick argues that your sandwich diverts people in crisis from safe, organised hot food points which signpost users to mental health professionals, medical care and temporary housing advice. In short – you are making rough sleeping a more viable option.
And Nick is not alone. Amanda Croome chief executive of one of Manchester’s key homelessness organisations, The Booth Centre, agrees, citing her own experience of homeless people who can only change their lives when they must engage with professionals – as opposed to the kindness of strangers.
Petra Salva, rough sleeping director of the charity St Mungo's, explains that Nick's argument holds up in London and the South East too, and describes an initiative which is an alternative to handing out ad hoc food - No Second Night Out.
Nick also meets volunteers who say they are fulfilling a vital service, and hears about practical ways to help, but the view supported by many experts is that a lot of are doing the wrong thing - for the right reason.

Presented by Nick Buckley
Produced by Kevin Core


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000cpwg)
The Meaning of Home

Until recently, a small, independent and politically neutral Syrian radio station was broadcasting in exile from Istanbul. But Radio Alwan was forced to close when the Trump administration made the decision last year to pull $200m of funding for Syria’s stabilisation projects, knocking the station off air. Some of the station’s staff are scattered across Europe and those who have remained in Turkey say they now feel vulnerable following the Turkish offensive in NE Syria and what they see as a hardening of the country’s position on refugees. So where do you belong if your adopted country no longer welcomes you and the door to your own country is closed? Emma Jane Kirby met ex Radio Alwan broadcasters in Istanbul to try understand why the word “home” no longer has any meaning for them.

Across Latin America millions have left their homes to better their families' lives. These have been years of huge outward migration from Venezuela, Central America and Cuba. Will Grant has now spent more than a decade living in countries which many of their own citizens feel forced to leave.

In the municipality of Has, in the rural mountainous north of Albania, it’s estimated that one in five people has left over the past ten years. It used to mainly be men, but now even primary age children are making perilous journeys into richer parts of Europe including the UK. Jessica Bateman asked one teacher how it feels to watch your school slowly disappear.

If you are forced to leave home, the word evokes a sense of loss. In the early 1970s, the dictator who ruled Uganda, Idi Amin, suddenly decided that the country’s long-standing community of Asians – mostly small business people of Indian origin – should be kicked out. He argued they put ethnic Ugandans at a disadvantage. Reha Kansara grew up with her mother's memories of life in her "East African paradise" and has just made her first visit to Uganda to see the country for herself.

The story of the nativity often inspires people to show compassion to the homeless around Christmas. Pregnant women and new mothers are particularly vulnerable. But the challenges of new life don’t end with finding a safe place to stay. On the occupied West Bank, Jeremy Bristow recently travelled with a group of female medics to visit the minority Arab Bedouin population.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000cpwj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000cncm)
The Money Clinic revisited

Money is one of the top three strains on relationships and it’s a common cause of rift between family and friends.

You might be cautious and risk averse and hate to see your partner frittering their money away on new clothes and nights out; while they might think you should stop being so miserly with your cash and splash out once in a while.

Earlier this year Ruth Alexander introduced ‘The Money Clinic’. In this special Money Box series we eavesdropped on the conversations of three couples and a mother and son talking honestly about their finances with a relationship counsellor. We learnt about their relationship with each other and how money impacted on their relationships, as well as hearing how they managed the emotional side of money. We learnt that individual attitudes to money are formed in early life, and how arguments about it are often about much more than just money.

In this programme we catch up with two households and hear what impact the Money Clinic had on their relationship with money.

If you have a money and relationship issue you would like to share, email moneybox@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer Smita Patel
Editor Emma Rippon


SAT 12:30 Dead Ringers (m000cmxr)
Christmas Specials 2019

Episode 3

A special show looking back at the highs and lows of the decade and the unforgettable characters that populated it. From the emergence of Jacob Rees Mogg to the disappearance of Theresa May. Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Duncan Wisbey and Deborah Stevenson.

The writing team for the series: Tom Jamieson & Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, James Bugg, Sara Gibbs, Simon Alcock, Alex Hardy and others.

Producer: Bill Dare
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m000cpwl)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m000cpwn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Correspondents' Look Ahead (m000cn1t)
Looking Ahead to 2020

The end of the decade draws to a close and what a year it’s been. A US president impeached, people taking to the streets everywhere from Bolivia to Beirut, from Khartoum to Hong Kong. Young people everywhere found their voice - especially on our climate crisis, many inspired by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, whose lonely protest grew to a millions-strong cry.

As this year ends, some will breathe a sigh of relief that the world avoided another war in the Persian Gulf. But will North Korea’s unpredictable leader launch more long-range missiles next year? Will ferocious fires and monster floods get worse and commitments get better at next year’s climate talks? And when we meet next year will it be President Trump 2.0 or a new man or woman in the White House?

So many big questions. But we have some of our big hitters here to provide plenty of answers.

Presenter: Lyse Doucet
Guests: Jon Sopel, Katya Adler, Gabriel Gatehouse, Faisal Islam and Rebecca Morelle

Producer: Ben Carter


SAT 14:00 So Many Books, So Little Time (m000bp3s)
Mark Hodkinson ponders the nature of our personal book collections, why and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find time to read them all.

Author Mark had just moved house. By far the most difficult task was carrying, storing and alphabetising his collection of 3,500 books. It made him stop to think. If it took, say, four days of solid reading to finish a book, he’d need 38.3 years to go through his collection. He would have to make his way through 315 million words. And that’s if he didn’t take time off to sleep, eat and have the occasional night out.

Clearly, it was a challenge too far.

So Many Books, So Little Time is an autobiographical, impressionistic audio odyssey. Mark considers that he might be afflicted by bibliomania and visits consumer psychologist Lisa Edgar to see whether owning thousands of books is normal. He calls at his local bookshop and meets its owner, George Kelsall, who has ten times as many books as Mark and has bought a large house solely to accommodate them.

He visits fellow writers, such as Austin Collings who tells Mark he is in grave danger of becoming merely an aggregate of all his books and will eventually lose his own writing voice. Trevor Hoyle tells Mark that he views books as time capsules and, pulling copies down from the shelves, he can tell Mark when he bought them, what was happening in his life at the time. Joanne Harris, the million-selling author of Chocolat, tells Mark she has filled her house full of books because she can’t bring it upon herself to throw any away.

Practical concerns are not forgotten – Mark visits a carpenter, Ashley Deakin, who previously made a bookcase a week but now does one or two a year. ‘‘People don’t want to put books on their walls any more. They just want these bloody huge televisions,’’ he says. Ashley then remembers that he built a shelving unit just a few weeks ago.

"But it was for shoes,’’ he says.

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 14:30 Drama (m000cpwq)
Puckoon

A madcap satire on the division of Ireland, by the godfather of British comedy, Spike Milligan.

Starring Ed Byrne, Pauline McLynn, Kate Harbour, Jane Milligan and featuring Barry Cryer as "The Author". Adapted from Spike Milligan's classic comic novel by Ian Billings.

Published in 1963, Puckoon became a publishing phenomenon, has never been out of print and has sold more than 6million copies. It's a satire on the futility of national borders and inadequacy of bureaucrats, filled with wonderful one-liners and madcap scenes which fall into one another, and remind us of the author’s great days writing the Goons.

In 1924, the Boundary Commission is tasked with creating the new official division between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Through incompetence, dereliction of duty and sheer perversity, the border ends up running through the middle of the small town of Puckoon.

Houses are divided from outhouses, husbands separated from wives, bars are cut off from their patrons, churches sundered from graveyards. And in the middle of it all is poor Dan Milligan, our feckless protagonist (played by Ed Byrne), who is taunted and manipulated by everyone to try and make some sense of this mess.

The division of the church from its cemetery makes it difficult for the Irish residents to bury their dead. "You intend to bury an Irish citizen in what is now British territory? He will require the following: an Irish passport stamped with a visa, to be renewed annually for the rest of his stay." The corpse of Dan Doonan is taken to a photographer to get his picture taken, as part of the formalities of getting his passport renewed.

Spike Milligan was one of the greatest and most influential comic writers and performers of the 20th century, with deep connections to the BBC. Born in India in 1918, he served in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War in North Africa and Italy. At the end of the war, he forged a career as a jazz musician, sketch-show writer and performer, before joining forces with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe to form the legendary Goon Show. Until his death in 2002, he had success on stage and screen and as the author of over eighty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays, cartoons and children's stories.

Cast:
Ed Byrne
Barry Cryer
Pauline McLynn
Kate Harbour
Jane Milligan
Wilf Scolding
David Shaw-Parker
Colm Gleeson
Tom Alexander

Adapted by Ian Billings
Director: Dirk Maggs
Producer: David Morley

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 15:30 Where Words Fail, Music Speaks (m0009s36)
The author Hans Christian Anderson coined the phrase: "Where words fail, music speaks" and nowhere is this more true in than in the case of caring for people with dementia.

Scientist and musician Emer Maguire looks at the various ways in which music can be used to build bridges and establish connections between people with dementia and their carers.

She looks at the science behind music as a therapeutic tool and how the "memory bump" informs what music will be more likely to trigger memories.

In the programme we'll see how technology is making easier for people with dementia to create personalized playlists of their favourite songs and how a dose of music can even reduce levels of medication.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in October 2019.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m000cpws)
Edna O'Brien, Christmas Traditions, Women In Law, Joanna Scanlan

Having to leave a child's bedside when they're being cared for in hospital can be a huge wrench. To help reduce the separation anxiety, a third of neonatal units in the UK are now using an app that helps parents stay in touch with their premature babies 24 hours a day. Doctors and nurses can send photos and video updates to parents when they can't be with their baby in hospital. So far, around five thousand families have used the service. Emma Barnett talks to Katharine Da Costa - a reporter for BBC South and Consultant Obstetrician Dr Maggie Blott.

This year saw an unprecedented number of women winning major awards and prizes. What does being a winner feel like, and is it always good to win? Jenni Murray hears from the writer Edna O'Brien who won the David Cohen Prize for Literature. The award celebrates a writer who has broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland and beyond, and moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her writing.

Christmas is steeped in all sorts of tradition – but it’s not just trees, tinsel and turkey. Many families have their own festive rituals and the mere idea of doing things differently would make it feel… well, just not like Christmas. But why do we get so hung up on doing Christmas a certain way - even if it doesn't make us happy? What is it about human psychology that makes tradition so attractive? And if your family festivities make you want to run away and hide, what’s the best way to break the cycle? Jenni Murray talks to Dr Cristine Legare from the University of Texas at Austin about why rituals are an inevitable part of being human.

We mark the centenary of women being able to enter the legal profession. Andrea Catherwood speaks to Cherie Booth QC, Dana Denis-Smith - founder of the First 100 years, Abi Silver, a former associate at a city law firm and now a legal consultant, Beth Collette, who's a barrister in her second year of tenancy, and Mari Takayanagi - a Senior Archivist at the Houses of Parliament.

The actress and writer Joanna Scanlan is known for Thick of It, Getting On, No Offence Puppy Love and most recently The Accident. Her latest role is as Mother Superior in the BBC’s new adaptation of Dracula. She joins Jenni to discuss.

Plus, the Glasgow-based close harmony quartet The All Sorts perform.


SAT 17:00 PM (m000cpwv)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m000d3n2)
Can we eradicate polio?

Despite heroic efforts to vaccinate against this crippling disease, why does it persist? The fight to eradicate polio is an amazing story: It began with a grassroots movement in the United States and led to a global campaign to wipe out a disease that can cause paralysis and even death. There is no cure, but countless cases have been prevented by an extraordinary campaign to vaccinate every child aged five and under. It’s an operation that requires access to some of the poorest and most remote regions of the world.

But polio was supposed to have been eliminated by the year 2000. Nearly two decades later, new cases are still springing up. Why? Neal Razzell examines the challenges and the triumphs in the effort to rid the world of polio.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000cpwx)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m000cpwz)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cpx1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000cn3r)
Michael Sheen, Prue Leith, Mavis Staples, Daisy May & Charlie Cooper, Ross Noble and many more.

Clive Anderson and Nikki Bedi pick their Loose Ends highlights from 2019. Conversation comes courtesy of an eclectic line up: Michael Sheen, Prue Leith, Mavis Staples, Daisy May & Charlie Cooper, Ross Noble and many more.

Producer: Sukey Firth


SAT 19:00 Profile (m000cnc6)
Michael Morpurgo

On ‘Profile’ this week - one of Britain’s most celebrated storytellers.

Michael Morpurgo has written 180 books over the past half century.

Over Christmas, he narrated a new BBC TV film adaptation of his 2014 children’s story ‘Mimi And The Mountain Dragon’.

Morpurgo is best known for ‘War Horse’ - a book about a horse bought by the British army to serve in the First World War and its young owner’s attempts to bring it home to safety.

Turned into a National Theatre play, then a Hollywood movie – it’s made him a household name.

Mark Coles hears from Morpurgo’s wife, brother, biographer and close friends talk about what inspired his writing - the profound impact war had on him as a child and the father he didn’t know for years.

We hear about his time in the army, the charity he set up to give city children experience of the countryside – and why now in his mid 70s, he’s taken up his love of singing again.

Producer Smita Patel
Editor Penny Murphy

The programme contains music from the BBC TV Film, "Mimi & the Mountain Dragon", composed by Rachel Portman


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (m000cpx4)
Listeners' cultural highlights of 2019

Find out what Saturday Review listeners chose as their cultural highlights of 2019. We asked what you'd enjoyed this year and you told us about things we'd missed, disagreed about some cultural events we'd reviewed, and let us know about which ones had delighted you too. We'll discuss all the regular genres: films, theatre, exhibitions, books and television. And lots of items which we didn't get a chance to review from the past 12 months. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Tiffany Jenkins and Shahidha Bari as well as lots of listeners on the phone from around the country, telling us what particularly impressed them last year.

Producer Oliver Jones


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000cpx6)
Sontag's Radical Will

Susan Sontag - writer, public intellectual and “empress of American culture” - may have died fifteen years ago, but she continues to shape how we think today, on subjects as diverse as photography, illness, sexuality, and violence. 



Novelist, poet, and playwright Deborah Levy charts Sontag’s role as a lucid chronicler of major cultural moments, from the sexual revolution of the 1960s to the AIDS crisis and the Bosnian war. 
 


Sontag broke with traditional post-war criticism in America, articulating how the boundaries between high culture and popular culture were crumbling. She advocated a sensual approach to seeing and experiencing art, arguing that “interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.” She was concerned with what it means to make images out of reality and to pay attention to the suffering of others. 
 


A fearless, outspoken thinker, Sontag had a complex relationship with her own gender and sexuality. She was determined to hone a public persona that ensured people took her seriously. Levy examines her views on feminism and considers her attitudes in light of contemporary notions of identity politics and self-expression. 
 


Alongside biographer Benjamin Moser, writer and friend Sigrid Nunez, American essayist Leslie Jamison, and British writer Lisa Appignanesi, Deborah Levy considers Sontag’s major works - including Against Interpretation, On Photography, and Illness as Metaphor - in the context of our current era, arguing that her rigorous voice and daring imagination are ever vital. 

Produced by Meara Sharma
A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Sebastian Baczkiewicz - Pilgrim (b019dq7y)
Series 2

The Lost Hotel

The mystical, timeless man tracks a missing person and finds himself an unwilling guest at a sinister hotel. Stars Paul Hilton.


SAT 21:45 Book at Bedtime (b08n2wt2)
Rabbit, Run

Episode 7

The post-war novel that summed up middle-class white America and established John Updike as the major American author of his generation. Rabbit, Run is the first in a virtuoso Pullitzer Prize-wining quintet featuring hapless Harry Angstrom, whom we meet as a 26 year old former high school basketball star and suburban paragon in the midst of a personal crisis.

Episode 7 (of 10):
Rabbit is reunited with his wife, his old basketball coach and his in-laws, and turns over a new leaf. Yet he can't help wondering if the minister's wife Lucy is flirting with him.

Rabbit, Run established Updike as one of the major American novelists of his generation. In the New York Times he was praised for his "artful and supple" style in his "tender and discerning study of the desperate and the hungering in our midst's".

Radio 4 plans to broadcast all five novels in the series over the next few years.

Read by Toby Jones
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 Meeting Myself Coming Back (b00thcn8)
Series 2

Sir Jonathan Miller

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

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

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

Producer: Emma Kingsley.


SAT 23:00 Quote... Unquote (m000ckvr)
Ken Cheng, Helen Lewis, Luke Jennings

Quote … Unquote, the popular celebrity quotations quiz, returns for its 55th series.

Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.

Across forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Sir Ian KcKellen and Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote...Unquote stage.

Episode 4
Stand up comedian Ken Cheng
Journalist and author Helen Lewis
Author and dance critic Luke Jennings

Quotes read by Sally Grace
Production Coordinator: Candace Wilson

Produced by Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Four Seasons (m000clpp)
Midwinter

Poetry and music to see us through the shortest days of winter. With reflections on midwinter from writers Jay Griffiths (author of Wild: An Elemental Journey and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time) and Lia Leendertz (the creator of the Almanac guides to the year in the British Isles), and astronomical insights into the winter solstice from cosmochemistry researcher Dr Tim Gregory.

With winter poems by Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ruth Fainlight, Gillian Clarke, Mark Doty, Kerry Hardie and Billy Collins. Read by Sinead MacInnes and Richard Harrington.

Producer: Mair Bosworth



SUNDAY 29 DECEMBER 2019

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000cpx8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Living Memory (m0005t4j)
I'm Not Too Old At All!

There's an estimated 15,000 people in Britain who have reached the age of 100 and received the famous telegram from the Queen. That's 0.02% of the overall population.

Over five programmes, we hear from some of them about the lives they've led, their experiences in the last 100 years, the lessons they've learned and how they view the future.

Today, two centenarians from Yorkshire - Elsie Beesle, who's lived a life full of dancing until her legs "got a little wobbly" and attending night classes (latterly with the University of the Third Age), and Dennis Allen who was born in 1914 and spent fifteen years in the Army driving a truck and fighting in Afghanistan, Singapore and Burma. These days, he's been told he's too old even for a scooter - although he does have an exercise bike.

Produced by Hannah Dean
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000cn0j)
Singular by Diana Evans

Lisa and Karen have been friends forever, since they sat next to eachother at school back in the day. Lisa is long married with children and wonders what it would be like to be free, whereas Karen is single and wanting to be in a relationship.
They discuss the relative merits of their situation as Karen braves the online dating scene, and reports back to Lisa on a series of dates some of which hold promise, others which very definitely don't. Being a middle-aged black women only makes the whole process that bit more challenging.

Singular was written by Diana Evans

Read by Adjoa Andoh

Produced by Karen Holden


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cpxb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cpxd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cpxg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000cpxj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000cncy)
St Mary with St Faith and St Francis in Alverstoke, Hampshire

Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary with St Faith and St Francis in Alverstoke, Hampshire. The ring of eight bells hangs in a tower built in 1904 to commemorate the end of the South African War. The tenor weighs thirteen hundredweight and is tuned to F sharp. We hear them ringing Grandsire Triples


SUN 05:45 Profile (m000cnc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m000cnb2)
The latest national and international news headlines.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b07cmlx3)
Legitimacy

Mark Tully asks what makes a government, a religion or even a friendship legitimate. Why to we give power to others to legislate for us, or take and spend our money, or tell us what is right or wrong?

With the help of a reading from Rumpole of the Bailey, Mark considers what makes a legal system legitimate, with judges who do not yield to the temptation to enrich themselves or bend under pressure to please the government, courts who deliver justice swiftly, and laws which are rightful. He also suggests the qualities required of individual politicians in strengthening the legitimacy of a government - honesty and integrity, willingness to serve others rather than pursue their own ambitions, and courage to do what they believe in rather than what is popular.

Music by Billy Bragg written during the miners’ strike in the UK in the 1980s, as well as a remarkable historical account of popular resistance to heavy-handed military force in 19th century London, illustrate the point made by the author of The Right to Rule, Bruce Gilley, that, “Rightful rule is rule that is consistent with the moral expectations of a political community.”

Or, as Rousseau would have it, “The strongest is never strong enough to be the master unless he translates strength into right and obedience into duty."

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Living World (m000cnb4)
My Living World

The Spined Loach

Keen naturalist Hannah Stitfall is joined by wildlife film researcher Dom Davies to review another programme from the LIVING WORLD archive. The subject today is Spined Loach - a fish you might never heard of because, whilst locally they are abundant, they are classified as a rare protected species and are only found in a handful of places in the UK. Also known as the Spotted Weather Loach because of their ability to detect changes in atmospheric or barometric pressure brought about by changes in the weather, they half bury themselves in fine organic sediment at the bottom of rivers or lakes during the day and then at night sieve the sediment, eating small shrimps and ejecting the mud and sand through their gills. As Hannah and Dom discover, these little fish also have some amazing survival techniques which enable them to survive low oxygen levels, whilst the spines which protrude from under their eyes are thought to help ward off predators.

Producer Sarah Bunt


SUN 06:57 Weather (m000cnb6)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000cnb8)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000cnbb)
The Mayflower - 400 years

In the autumn of 1620, 102 passengers set sail from England aboard the Mayflower. Many of those sailing were Puritans, looking for the freedom to practice their religious ideas. Others wanted a fresh start in the New World. The treacherous journey took 66 days and as the Pilgrims established their new colony they battled harsh winters, disease and internal dissent.

As the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s journey is about to be commemorated, Emily Buchanan explores the Pilgrim’s journey, their relationship with Native Americans and discovers how their political and religious beliefs helped shape modern America.

Producers:
David Cook
Dan Tierney

Series Producer:
Amanda Hancox


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000cl6t)
Chance for Childhood

Former BBC Correspondent Mark Doyle makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Chance for Childhood.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Chance for Childhood'
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Chance for Childhood'

Registered Charity Number: England and Wales 1013587


SUN 07:57 Weather (m000cnbd)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000cnbg)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000cnbj)
Christmas on the Edge

From the Chapel of Girton College, Cambridge.

The Reverend Dr Malcolm Guite explores those parts of the Christmas story that take place, not in the centre of power, in places like Rome or Jerusalem, but out on the edge, by the fields of Bethlehem and in a stable, and how they bring those who have been marginalised and left out back in to the centre and heart of God’s own story. The College’s Visitor, The Right Honourable, The Baroness Hale of Richmond reflects on how Girton too, a place built ‘on the edge’ has worked and continues to work to include the excluded. The chapel choir and congregation join together to sing seasonal hymns including 'Infant holy, infant lowly', and 'Jesus, good above all other'. Director of Music: Gareth Wilson. Producer: Ben Collingwood.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000cn1y)
The Consolations of Taxidermy

"I've long been fascinated with taxidermy", writes Rebecca Stott, "but it disturbs me".
She explains why - after many years - she's made her peace with taxidermy.
"After all, can we really be all high-horse-ish about the way our ancestors shot, classified and stuffed everything in their path, given how much damage we've done to species and their habitats in the last fifty years alone?"

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvsps)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 10 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song Twelve Tweets of Christmas.

As actress Alison Steadman recounts, while the original song called for ten Lords a Leaping, in the bird world a there are a number of species which could be thought of as able to leaping about. Choosing which birds come to mind from that list brings to mind the pied wagtail and the common crane.

Producer : Andrew Dawes.
Photograph: Deanne Wildsmith.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000cnbl)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000cnbn)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting

Writer, Sarah McDonald-Hughes
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Josh Archer ….. Angus Imrie
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Christine Barford ….. Lesley Saweard
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Angus Shrimpton ….. Leo Wan
Gavin ….. Gareth Pierce


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m000b809)
Kimberley Motley, lawyer

Kimberley Motley is an American attorney and the first foreign lawyer to practise in Afghanistan.

Born in 1975 to an African-American father and a North Korean mother, she grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where hers was the only mixed-race family - and the only family with two parents. Education was very important to her parents, who sent their four children to private schools and also paid for extra tutoring.

After completing degrees in Criminal Justice and Law, Kimberley spent five years working as a Public Defender before taking up the opportunity in 2008 to go to Afghanistan for a year to train local lawyers. Her husband, Claude, stayed in the US to take care of their three children. When her one-year contract in Afghanistan came to an end, she decided to stay and started her own private legal practice.

Initially she only took on foreign clients, but once she had familiarised herself with the intricacies of local laws and customs, she accepted her first Afghan client. She has gone on to build a thriving practice, with a 70-30% ratio of paid to pro-bono work. Her practice now extends to other parts of the world including Uganda, Ghana and the UAE and earlier this year she published a book about her working life.

DISC ONE: Will Smith - A Nightmare on My Street
DISC TWO: Elton John - I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
DISC THREE: LL Cool J - I'm Bad
DISC FOUR: KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
DISC FIVE: Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris - Dance Wiv Me
DISC SIX: Ed Sheeran - I See Fire
DISC SEVEN: The Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
DISC EIGHT: Kendrick Lamar - DNA

BOOK CHOICE: 1984 by George Orwell
LUXURY ITEM: Business card holder with photo of her children
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Pump It by Black Eyed Peas

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000cnbq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 The Tim Vine Chat Show (m000cms9)
Christmas Special 2019

Christmas jokes and songs from the Punslinger extraordinaire as he invites the Great British Public to tell him some Christmas stories.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000cn48)
Is The Dinner Party Dead?

Cast your mind back to the days when as a child you’d be pushed into the backroom with the TV on a Saturday night whilst your parents ‘entertained friends’ in the dining room. Three courses, nibbles. If you were a child of the 70s, prawn cocktails and stroganoff. In the 80s, parents made vol-au-vents and devilled eggs, black forest gateaux slaved over all day. (Course you’d make do with cheese on toast before your mum got changed.)

Today it doesn’t happen like it used to. Homes are built without dining rooms, that’s if you can afford your own place anyway. We’re too frightened of the elaborate dishes cooked by TV chefs that we prefer to meet up with friends over Sunday roasts or bottomless brunch. Yes we might have people over for food, but it’s shared out in the kitchen, or eaten on knees in-front of the TV. So are we in a post-dinner party era? Or should we invest in a decent table cloth and be proud about entertaining the people we love?

Leyla Kazim speaks to New Yorker and author of 'Nothing Fancy', Alison Roman who is not mourning the dinner party. Instead, Alison gives her ultimate guide to having friends over for food, complete with a 'washing up' dance party. British podcast host and writer Alexandra Dudley defends the glitz that only comes with a proper party and shares some simple hacks. And best-selling author Josceline Dimbleby describes how the way she cooks for friends has changed since she released her first cookbook in 1976.

Presented by Leyla Kazim.
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m000cnbt)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000cnbw)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 Josie Long's Gambit (m000cnby)
As a girl, Josie Long liked little more than playing chess, using pieces that - according to fanciful family legend - had been carved in a prisoner of war camp by her grandfather.

But as the years went by, chess struggled to compete with the demands of building a career in stand-up comedy and has become little more than a fond memory, an en-passant fancy.

Now Josie sets out to put that right by resuming her place at the board and celebrating the many pleasures that this oldest of games still offers the millions of people who play each day.

She visits the Casual Chess Club which is trying to rid chess of its stuffy image, talks to international master Danny Rensch about his part in the online revolution the game has undergone, and tries to find out, with Erland Cooper's help, whether beautiful chess can be turned into beautiful music.

The programme serves as a heartfelt hymn of praise to the game as played by both champions and chancers, those who have turned it into an art and those who wouldn’t know their zugzwang from their King’s Indian.

Produced by Geoff Bird
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000cn0f)
Black Country Living Museum

Kathy Clugston and the panel visit the Black Country Living Museum. Matthew Pottage, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Wilson answer the green-fingered audience's questions.

The panellists discuss how to prune a golden alder, give tips on encouraging a fig tree to produce fruit and offer recommendations for exotic plants with winter interest. They also consider what to do with a Christmas tree after the festivities and whether a poinsettia can be kept beyond the twelve days of Christmas.

Away from the questions, Pippa Greenwood explores the Museum to have a look round the gardens with researcher Nadia Awal and Pete Alexander.

Producer: Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m000cnc0)
Sunday Omnibus - Beginnings and Belonging

Fi Glover presents the omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen with three conversations about beginnings and belonging.

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: Mohini Patel


SUN 15:00 Mr Pye (m000cnc2)
Episode 2

“There is no problem on earth that cannot be solved by love!” announced the little evangelist, Harold Pye, as he arrived on the tiny Channel Island of Sark.

He certainly started to spread love around, galvanising a community rife with disputes, grudges and feuds. His good deeds seemingly knew no bounds. He even appeared to be developing certain actual angelic qualities, as he invited all the islanders to a grand midnight picnic at Derrible Bay. But now there’s a literal whiff of disaster in the air and his schemes begin to unravel.

There’s all to play for as Mr. Pye (Adrian Scarborough) fights with the voices of his conscience, the monstrous Miss George (Jane Whittenshaw) plots against him and Miss Dredger (Deborah Findlay) finds love taking her in unexpected directions.

Artist poet and novelist Mervyn Peake, perhaps best known for his Gormenghast trilogy, wrote this darkly comic modern fable in the 1950s and set it on Sark, a place he knew well. This modern tale about an island divided against itself has been dramatised by New Generation poet and playwright, Glyn Maxwell (The Gambler, Cyrano de Bergerac, Shakespeare’s Fire).

Cast:
Adrian Scarborough........................Mr. Pye
Deborah Findlay..............................Miss Dredger
Christopher Harper.........................Thorpe/ Major Overshot
Emily Bowker...................................Tintagieu
Jane Whittenshaw............................Miss George, Dr. Moraine
Emma Noakes...................................Kiki, Mrs. Porter
Alex Blake..........................................Pawgy
Thomas Delacourt..............................Pepe

From the novel by Mervyn Peake dramatised by Glyn Maxwell
Directed by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000cl6w)
Graham Greene Special

Louise Doughty, Lawrence Osborne and Dr Jon Wise join Mariella Frostrup to discuss the mastery of Graham Greene, selecting some of their favorite examples of his work. 70 years after The Third Man, they discuss the enduring appeal of 20th century's master of plot, whose landmark work includes The End of the Affair, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Power and The Glory.

Peter James, another writer influenced by Greene, goes in search of the iconic locations of Brighton Rock. Reporting from his home town, he explains the enduring influence of the genre defining novel on his own work, and how the seaside-set fable was brought to life by an ideal location.

And Quentin Falk, who met the great polymath at the end of his life, paints a picture of "Greeneland", considering the indelible mark he left on film as well as fiction.


SUN 16:30 Wild Music (m000cnc4)
Earlier this year, the Scottish poet and writer John Burnside received a CD of Solan Goose by musician and composer Erland Cooper. These "sonic postcards" of Erland's native Orkney are inspired by local dialect, birds, landscapes and the sea. For John Burnside, it reconnected him with nature in a profound way.

The two meet for the first time on Orkney while Erland is working on the final album of his Orkney trilogy. Braving heavy rain and gale-force winds, Erland takes John to locations that inspire his work.

Scattered across the Orkney islands are some of the UK’s best preserved neolithic monuments, designated a UNESCO world heritage site. John feels a direct connection to the stone-age communities who lived here 5000 years ago, and a sense that those people lived really close to the earth, the sea and the sky. We visit the mysterious Ring of Brodgar, the neolithic village of Skara Brae, a sacred cairn, and the Bay of Skale. John responds by composing five new poems.

Sheltering from the storm, Erland and John entertain each other by swapping their favourite Orkney myths and legends - featuring seal people, a trip to faerie land and disappearing islands. These stories also weave their way into both artists' work.

Produced by Victoria Ferran
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 A Bright Yellow Light (m000cmsf)
Three years ago successful businessman Nadim Ednan-Laperouse was on a flight to a holiday destination with his daughter Natasha when she was taken ill. She had suffered a severe allergic reaction while eating a Pret a Manger sandwich and tragically died on the aeroplane floor in front of her father. The story of what happened has been widely reported and touched many people, as well as leading to the introduction of 'Natasha's Law' following a successful court ruling. Though a big news story at the time, Nadim has never told of the extraordinary religious experience that happened to him on the plane that day. Something very powerful took place which was to change his life and all those around him.

Producer: Amanda Hancox
Editor: Christine Morgan


SUN 17:40 Profile (m000cnc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000cnc8)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m000cncb)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cncd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000cncg)
Gerry Northam

Ken Dodd goes 15 rounds with Her Majesty’s Revenue…. and wins.
Darcey Bussell recalls the agony of dancing on point and Bruno Tonioli celebrates the ecstasy of opera choruses.
Spike Milligan lampoons the creation of Northern Ireland’s border, Icelanders lament the melting of their glaciers.
and Glenda Jackson finds The Holy Grail in an Oxfam shop.

Presenter: Gerry Northam
Producer: Stephen Garner

Production support: Kay Whyld & Ellen Orchard


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m000cn44)
There’s trouble at Grey Gables and Pip’s got to make her mind up.


SUN 19:15 The Voice of Joe Grundy (m000cpv7)
Felicity Finch pays tribute to Ted Kelsey who played Joe Grundy in The Archers for over 30 years before his death earlier this year. Felicity, who often starred alongside him in her role as Ruth Archer, uses an interview she recorded with Ted before he died for the BBC’s Oral History Collection as the starting point to explore his life and work.

Edward Kelsey was born in Hampshire in 1930 to a dressmaking mother. He attended medical school but soon realised that what he really wanted to do was act and so changed paths. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Speech and Drama and went on to win the prestigious Carleton Hobbs Award which gave him a six-month contract on the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company. He never lost his love of radio, both as an actor and writer, and in 1985 took over from Haydn Jones as the great Grundy patriarch Joe in The Archers, recording his poignant final scenes in April this year.

Joe Grundy was at the heart of endless tales of mischief and misadventure, some wild, some barely legal, as well as having some of the most tragic storylines in Ambridge. All were delivered with irresistible warmth and worldly wisdom that was uniquely Joe, making him one of the programme’s best loved and most memorable characters.

In this programme Felicity talks to Ted’s sister and daughter, Gillian Denton and Lisbet Thomson, to Trevor Harrison, who plays Joe Grundy’s son Eddie and to Philip Molloy and Barry Farrimond who play his grandsons Will and Ed.

Edward Kelsey was also the voice of Mr Growbag in Wallace and Gromit’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Colonel K and Baron Greenback in Danger Mouse. He appeared in countless radio dramas over the years, as well as making many television appearances including Doctor Who and the Vicar of Dibley.

Presenter and Producer: Felicity Finch

You can find out more about the BBC Oral History Collection here: https://connectedhistoriesofthebbc.org/100-voices-that-made-the-bbc/


SUN 19:45 A Run in the Park (m000cncj)
Episode 9

A group of strangers in Belfast have formed a running group, determined to go from absolute beginners to completing a 5K Parkrun in just nine weeks. As their shared runs get longer and tougher, friendships are forged and relationships challenged. But will any of them actually make it over the finish line?

Young couple Brendan and Angela are running from their doubts about their rapidly approaching wedding; librarian Cathy is in pursuit of a new life following a health scare; Syrian refugee Yana races from the trauma of her past; and recent retiree Maurice is determined to get fit for his family, step by painful step, even if he’s not actually part of their lives right now…

Author
David Park is one of Northern Ireland's most acclaimed writers. He is the author of nine novels and two collections of short stories. He has been awarded the Authors' Club First Novel Award, the Bass Ireland Arts Award for Literature, the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, the American Ireland Fund Literary Award and the University of Ulster's McCrea Literary Award, three times. He has also received a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His most recent novel ‘Travelling in A Strange Land’ won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award and was a Radio 4 ‘Book at Bedtime’.

Writer ..... David Park
Reader ..... Julia Dearden
Producer ..... Michael Shannon


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000cn0s)
Radio 3 had a much admired schedule, so why change it? That's one of the questions Roger Bolton puts to Radio 3's Controller of Radio 3, Alan Davey, in the last programme of the current series.

Also, two listener reviewers have some pungent comments to make about a popular history podcast and The Observer’s Miranda Sawyer gives Radio 4 some radical advice.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000cn0n)
Andrew Graham-Yooll OBE, Andrea Newman, Peter Davis, Olly Croft OBE

Julian Worricker on:

The journalist, Andrew Graham-Yooll OBE, who risked his life to tell the story of the so-called 'disappeared' in Argentina in the 1970s.

The writer Andrea Newman, best known for 'Bouquet of Barbed Wire', the sexually charged family drama that pushed the boundaries of television.

Ornithologist and conservationist, Peter Davis, who dedicated much of his working life to saving the red kite.

And Olly Croft OBE who founded the British Darts Organisation, and is credited with making the sport more popular and more professional.

Producer: Paula McGinley


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000cncm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000cl6t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (m000cncp)
The Business of Beethoven

"Beethoven's arms were bigger than the piano" says concert pianist Stephen Hough at his Steinway. "I sense him pushing at every moment - as if he's in a cage saying 'Let me out'".

To mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth in 2020, Clemmie Burton-Hill looks, not at Beethoven the composer, but at a little-known aspect of the composer's life, Beethoven the entrepreneur.

In the company of some of the foremost Beethoven proponents - pianist Stephen Hough, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Hope and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Clemmie investigates how Beethoven pushed and cajoled music publishers, music printers and piano makers to turn convention on its head and create a music "industry".

Could he even have invented the gig economy?!

The programme was made in collaboration with the US radio stations WNYC and WQXR

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 22:00 News Review of the Year (m000cncr)
"The world has changed, none of us can go back."

A look back at some of the big stories that hit the headlines in 2019.

Jonny Dymond is joined by:
Jennifer Williams of the Manchester Evening News
Rory Sutherland of the Spectator and Ogilvy Group
Helen Lewis of The Atlantic.

Producer: Sheila Cook
Editor: Jasper Corbett


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000cnct)
Frank Cottrell-Boyce on Local Hero

With Francine Stock.

In another edition of Moving Image, writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce reveals the huge impact that the film Local Hero had on his family and his life. And receives a surprise phone call from someone who was intimately involved in the production.


SUN 23:30 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m0003cg6)
Episode 2: Young Adults Novel

Comedian James Veitch is juggling his Radio 4 challenge series with other problems, but he may have found a solution.

In episode two James attempts to solve his money troubles by setting himself the task of writing a successful Young Adults Novel.

While discovering what makes a publishing phenomenon and how the genre has adapted to the online world, James' ambition for a multi-part movie deal clashes with his Producer's time concerns.

James Veitch's TED Talk - "This is what happens when you reply to spam email" - was a massive hit.

The voice of The Producer is Laurence Grissell. The actual Producers were Sam Peach and Viv Jones.



MONDAY 30 DECEMBER 2019

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000cncw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Rewinder (m0005mnq)
Three: Two World Cups and a Sausage on a Stick

Radio 1 Breakfast Show host and self-described 'radio nerd' Greg James rummages through the BBC's archives, taking some of this week's stories and themes as a jumping off point into the past.

In anticipation of the FIFA Women's World Cup, Greg kicks off this week's episode with some archive recordings of female football players from the 1960s and 1970s. It's safe to say that the interviews and commentaries are definitely of their time with some less than enlightened male attitudes towards women on the pitch.

The sporting theme continues with the Cricket World Cup which sends Greg on a mission to find some standout cricketing moments. He discovers a spine-tingling edition of Any Questions in 1960 in which commentator John Arlott makes an impassioned attack on apartheid in South Africa and challenges the British Government to take action.

As the UN questions the use of female voices for digital assistants, Greg listens in when Robert Kilroy-Silk takes on Germaine Greer in an edition of his show Day To Day from 1987.

Obesity levels are continuing to rise in the UK so Greg slips on his legwarmers and limbers up to some fitness albums from the 1980s - the cast of instructors include Jane Fonda, Joan Collins and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Radio 1 DJ Peter Powell demonstrates his high intensity workout without breaking into a sweat.

And as the Italian Job celebrates its 50th birthday Michael Caine reflects on his cockney accent in an interview from 1976. There's also music from the Little Angels of Korea, who enjoy the 1970s delicacy of sausages on sticks courtesy of a Blue Peter party, and the case of Acker Bilk's missing bowler hat continues.

Producer: Paula McGinley


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000cncy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cnd0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cnd2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cnd4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000cnd6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cnd8)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Another Christmas come and gone. Is that a source of regret or of relief? Either way, it’s surely remarkable that Christmas remains such a big deal in our society. Many, perhaps most, even from a Christian family background, have dropped the habit of attending midnight mass or a Christmas morning service – but still find it’s just not possible to forget about Christmas or banish it from consciousness completely. In the run-up, we’re reminded of it at every street corner and on every screen.

The relationship between commerce and religion has always been a complicated one. Jesus warns that you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and money but it’s clear that none of us would choose to live in grinding poverty – it’s dehumanising. The Book of Proverbs suggests that we should ask for neither poverty nor riches.

I suspect most people accept, deep down, that money can’t make us happy and to be too concerned about it is a recipe for unhappiness – for ourselves and others. That’s maybe what Jesus was getting at. As the bright lights of Christmas fade maybe it would be good for us to reflect a little on whether we have the balance right, and have put money in its proper place. And let’s spare a heartfelt prayer too for those who find themselves knee deep in debt at this time of year, and for whom that necessary big Christmas spend has left a pit in the stomach.

Loving God, give us grace to realise that all that we have is gift and be thankful for it. Deliver us from poverty or riches and let us not be enslaved to money. Set us free from worry about making money or losing it. Enable us to use what we have for the common good.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000cndb)
Hare Coursing

The practice of setting dogs on to wild hares has been followed for hundreds of years...but the first modern hare coursing club was set up in Swaffham in Norfolk in 1776.

Norfolk is still a hare coursing hot spot - despite it being made illegal under the Hunting Act of 2004 - and across the whole country, hundreds of incidents are reported each year.

Police say hare coursing now attracts organised crime gangs with bets worth thousands of pounds used to launder money. And for farmers, it can mean damage to their property and crops as well as personal intimidation.

Anna Hill has been out across Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to hear how Operation Galileo, the nationwide response to hare coursing, is tackling this rural crime.

Produced and presented by Anna Hill


MON 05:56 Weather (m000cndd)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09jvxhk)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 11 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song Twelve days of Christmas.

As the song hints at, no festive party for a true love would be complete without eleven massed pipers piping. And possibly the best pipers of the British bird world can be found down on the coast. For actress Alison Steadman two species which come to mind are the redshank and the oystercatcher.

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Tim Marlow.


MON 06:00 Today (m000cn3h)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Positive Thinking (m000cpzr)
Keeping Whitney out of jail

Jo Fidgen explores how we can stop women from going back into prison. There are around 4,000 women behind bars in England and Wales. They make up 5% of the total prison population. And yet their incarceration has an outsized impact on society. In the first of a new series, Jo Fidgen goes with a young woman who has been in and out of the criminal justice system to try to find out how different approaches could change things. They look at the kinds of local, community-based responses that are changing lives across the UK, as well as a more radical approach that calls into question assumptions about women and crime.

Producer: Ant Adeane


MON 09:30 Witness (m000d1qj)
Britain's GI babies

During World War Two hundreds of thousands of US troops were posted to the United Kingdom and several thousand of those soldiers were African-American. But when children were born as a result of relationships between those black GIs and white British women, their babies often grew up in children's homes and went on to have difficult lives. Farhana Haider has been speaking to one of those children, Babs Gibson-Ward.

Photo: Hoinicote House children, c.1948
Credit: Lesley York


MON 09:45 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cv9l)
Episode 1

Clive James reads his autobiography. An accident-prone child actor will stop at nothing to avoid school.

Australian-born Clive James reads the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, exploring his life growing up from being an accident prone child actor who hated school, through to national service and a place at Sydney University.

Clive James - writer, broadcaster and poet - was known around the world for his dry wit. Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1962 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television. The show saw him introduce amusing and off-beat TV clips from around the world, most famously from Japanese game show Endurance.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life. He died on 24th November at his home in Cambridge, where he had attended university and where his funeral took place at Pembroke College. He was 80 years old.

Unreliable Memoirs was first published in 1980.
It was abridged and produced by Jane Marshall, and read by Clive James.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 2 first broadcast in 2001.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cn3m)
PHONE IN - Jane Garvey takes your calls about making and breaking habits

How do you build healthy habits that you actually enjoy? How do you undo habits that have been bugging you for a life time? We want to hear from you about the decisions and actions you make every day that form the fabric of your life. Do you want to take more exercise, stop eating so much chocolate, stop shouting at your children? Would you like to stop procrastinating, bingeing on box sets and biting your nails? How about reading more books, being nicer to your partner and going to bed on time? We want to hear from you about your successes and failures in making and undoing habits. And if you’re looking for guidance Heather McKee, a behaviour change specialist, will be on hand with evidence-based strategies and advice. Phone lines are open from 0800 on Monday. The number to call is 03700 100 444. You can email now via the Woman's Hour Website.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Interviewed guest: Heather McKee
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore


MON 10:45 Charlotte and Lillian (b095g3xb)
Series 1

The Introduction

In the throes of splitting up from her boyfriend, 29-year-old Charlotte (Helen Monks) is determined to prove she's not as self-centred as he says she is. She signs up as a volunteer to visit the elderly, expecting to be paired with a frail and needy old lady who's full of gratitude and appreciation for such a selfless act. Instead she meets 82-year-old Lillian (Miriam Margolyes), a belligerent and feisty old bat who sees through her in an instant.

Needless to say, they don't get on - but Charlotte and Lillian's conflicting outlooks on life belie a striking similarity in their personalities. Both are profoundly selfish, self-involved and stubborn; both are quietly curious about each other (though they'd never dream of admitting it); and both are lonely.

With every visit, their arguments grow more heated, the resolutions more uneasy and the outcomes more entertaining, as Charlotte and Lillian discover eye-opening truths about themselves and each other.

This four-part, two-actress comedy, written by Holly Walsh and Kat Sommers, was recorded on location and features the fantastic combination of Miriam Margolyes and Helen Monks, working together for the first time.

As the series opens, Charlotte arrives -late - at Lillian's flat, fresh from another argument with her soon-to-be-ex. She's expecting a grateful, attentive old lady, so is pretty put out when Lillian seems more concerned with that afternoon's edition of Flog It!. Lillian, on the other hand, is irritated by the constant chirrups from Charlotte's phone and how Charlotte can't stop looking at it.

Neither of them is expecting things to develop so speedily.

A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:00 The Untold (m000cy76)
Phoenix from the Airwaves

In a community centre in inner city Bristol, next to the nursery, and the café and the hall for local meet-ups and yoga, sits a very special place. The BCfm – Bristol Community FM – radio station. From their studio next to Easton community centre’s reception, 204 volunteer radio presenters broadcast to the city of Bristol and beyond. Dezzi Rankin (the resident Sunday morning reggae host), Shout Out (LGBTQ+), Silver Sound (for the older listener), Mid-Week Sports bar, Real Women – they’re all here.

Pat Hart has been the station manager for ten years – and also the station’s breakfast presenter. “I don’t think there’s a single part of life in Bristol we don’t represent.”

It is always a struggle, but with grants drying up, the station has found itself living more and more of a hand to mouth existence. At the beginning of 2019 he found himself asking the council for more support, but nothing could prepare him for what was around the corner. “If I’d have had a crystal ball, I might have run away at the beginning of 2019.”

One fateful day in August at 11am, Tony Johnson launched his 50th Anniversary of the Moon landings special with Telstar. “I plugged my MP3 stick into the usual slot… and then I smelt something strange. Looked to my left, and saw the smoke coming from somewhere behind the desk.” He did his next link, alerted the receptionist to the need for a fire engine, and then as the studio filled with acrid smoke, he queued up an hour’s worth of music. “The radio host’s worst nightmare is dead air.”

Pat arrived to find the studio completely destroyed, the insurance documents illegible from fire damage, and his thoughts turned to the listeners. The longer the station is off air, the more perilous their situation becomes.

Can Pat get the station back on air - and fast?

Produced by Polly Weston


MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000cn3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m000cp0q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cn3w)
Episode 6

Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...

The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000cn3y)
Car security; Boiler cover; Social care

Car makers have come up with a new device to stop thieves from stealing vehicles by hacking into key fobs. As the number of vehicles stolen in Britain continues to rise, one factor is the number of organised gangs using devices to remotely steal cars by hacking into their keyless entry systems. But car manufacturers believe they may have found a solution in the form of a new "sleeping" key fob. We speak to the experts who're putting the technology to the test.

A succession of Governments over the past 20 years have tried - and so far failed - to crack the best way of paying for social care. Despite twelve White Papers, Green Papers and other consultations about social care in England - governments have patched but not resolved the problem. We look at how other countries are coping with the pressures of an ageing population.

From satellite navigation to mobile phones and weather forecasting; we all rely on space to help deliver some of the most popular consumer technology across the world. But the testing of a new, satellite broadband system is worrying astronomers. Called the Starlink Project, it's the brainchild of billionaire businessman Elon Musk. He's launching around 12,000 new satellites at the rate of around 60 every couple of weeks. It's all about making the internet up to 40 times faster, no matter where you happen to be in the world. But this sudden rise in the number of satellites is prompting calls for controls on the numbers we launch into space every year.

And, is it worth spending good money on cover for emergency boiler repairs? We hear from one listener who definitely wouldn't recommend it. She's been paying £300 a year for her boiler cover, but when it did break down she was told it would take ten days to get it looked at.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Craig Henderson


MON 12:57 Weather (m000cn40)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m000cn42)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


MON 13:45 Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? (m000b4qp)
Episode 1: Know Thyself

Comedian and classicist Jon Harvey, who challenged Theresa May in the 2017 general election as Lord Buckethead, explores modern British democracy through an ancient Athenian lens. If the one thing we can all agree on is that our state is in a state, could the world’s original democrats could help us right the ship?

Democracy was born in ancient Athens and lasted for nearly 200 years. Not all Athenians were democrats - perhaps the most famously outspoken anti-democrat Socrates ended up sentenced to death, ironically by a vote of the people. But if an Athenian democrat time-travelled to 2019, what would he make of what's going on in Britain? Could he fix the chaos?

Written and presented by Jon Harvey
Produced by Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer: Dixi Stewart

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m000cn44)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b09gkcsm)
Road to Lautrec

Writer Douglas Livingstone and director Jane Morgan continue the series of dramas created with recordings from distinctive festivals around the world.

This year, they reach the annual garlic festival held in the medieval village of Lautrec. The hilltop community, officially recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in France, holds a rapidly growing festival to celebrate the harvest of their distinctive pink garlic. This two day event on the first weekend of August attracts thousands of visitors with its bewildering array of garlic twining competitions, garlic sculptures, dancing, processions, elaborate church services, markets, culinary contests, a vast dole of free garlic soup and a huge communal dinner held under the stars.

Together with a sound engineer, the team set off to record the event and then weave the recordings into a drama based on the experience.

In Road to Lautrec, three oddly assorted people from a London cookery course take advantage of an offer to visit the fete, staying with a local ex-pat. What follows is a comic romance of gastronomy, lost love and prodigious amounts of garlic and rose wine, played out in a truly extraordinary place in the distant shadow of Brexit.

The cast includes the original Poldark, Robin Ellis, who lives in the region, along with BAFTA and Olivier award winning Cheryl Campbell, veteran BBC radio actor Nigel Anthony and Emma Cunniffe, fresh from playing the title role in the RSC and West End production of Queen Ann.

Writer: Douglas Livingstone
Director: Jane Morgan

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 15:00 Quote... Unquote (m000cn46)
Sir Tim Rice, Robin Stevens, Shazia Mirza

Quote … Unquote, the popular celebrity quotations quiz, returns for its 55th series.

Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.

Across forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Sir Ian KcKellen and Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote...Unquote stage.

Episode 5
Lyricist and author Sir Tim Rice
Novelist Robin Stevens
Stand-up comedian and writer Shazia Mirza

Quotes read by Charlotte Green
Production Coordinator: Candace Wilson

Producer: Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000cn48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m000cn4b)
Series 5

Roman British Women: Claudia Severa.

Natalie Haynes tells the stories of the handful of Roman-British women whose traces stay with us: a fierce queen, a slave woman freed for love, the so-called 'Ivory Bangle Lady' and Claudia Severa, whose invitation to her friend to her birthday party some two thousand years ago is one of the greatest historical treasures of Roman Britain.

Wooden tablets, ivory (and jet) bangles and a romantic gravestone inscription from South Shields. Natalie is joined by guests Professor Llewelyn Morgan and archaeologist Dr Paul Roberts.

Stand up comedy, ancient details and a lot of fascinating gossip from a couple of thousand years ago.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m000cn4d)
Miracles

This year, the Catholic Church declared John Henry Newman a saint following a lengthy investigation which concluded that two miraculous cures had resulted from the Cardinal’s intercession. It’s not only the Christian Church that believes in miracles. But what actually are they and should we find a new and broader definition for the 21st century? Nuclear scientist Professor Ian Hutchinson; John Thavis, former Rome Bureau Chief for the Catholic News Service and Dr Sarah Shaw, a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, join Ernie to discuss.

Producer: Helen Lee


MON 17:00 PM (m000cn4g)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cn4l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:15 Ghost Stories from Ambridge (m000cn4n)
The Room in the Tower

On a biting December night, in the darkened attic of Lower Loxley, Jim Lloyd enthrals an assembly of Ambridge residents with three chilling ghost stories from the turn of the last century. A young man finds himself staying in a mysterious house that has plagued his dreams since childhood. But even his darkest nightmares can’t prepare him for the reality of the room in the tower.

Narrator ..… John Rowe
Written by E.F. Benson
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Produced and directed by Charlotte Davey


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000cn4q)
Series 23

Episode 1

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

Holly Walsh, Henning Wehn, Tony Hawks and Sally Phillips are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as actors, rules, dogs and Finland.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m000cmzs)
Lee feels awkward and Justin offers some words of wisdom.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m000cn4t)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mb5z2)
My Life with Flu

Episode 1

By Sarah Woods

A love story, about flu.

It's January 1969, the winter after the summer of love, and Jill and David's fledgling relationship is about to be put to test by the outbreak of Hong Kong Flu.

My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viral infection. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.

Using cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – it tells the story of flu, and investigates the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.

Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Doctor.... John Norton
Protestor.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production


MON 20:00 A Small Matter of Hope (m000cn4w)
Life is getting better. Child mortality rates have tumbled worldwide, more girls are in education, malaria is in decline and hunger is a thing of the past for most of us. So why don't we believe it? Why are so many of us convinced that we're heading for hell in a handcart?

It's a question that really bothers the editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson. Is it the fault of journalists like him, peddling conflict and disaster rather than tales of human progress? Or are we all born with a negativity bias? Do we seek out stories of death and danger just as our ancestors listened out for sabre-toothed tigers padding ever closer to our cave?

In search of answers Fraser meets some of the best-selling thinkers on human happiness- Harvard psychology professor, Steven Pinker, author of Notes on a Nervous Planet, Matt Haig and co-author of Factfulness, Anna Rosling Ronnlund.

Armed with the combined intellectual heft of these purveyors of positivity Fraser returns to his Whitehall office to persuade his cynical staff that the world is crying out for a new Spectator with a positive spin.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000cn4y)
Iceland: The Great Thaw

Iceland's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, with scientists predicting that they could all be gone 200 years from now.

How is this affecting the lives of local people, and the identity of a nation that has ice in its name?

Maria Margaronis talks to Icelandic farmers and fishermen, scientists and environmental activists about their (sometimes surprising) responses to climate change, and asks why it’s so difficult even for those who see its effects from their windows every day to take in what it means.

Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
Editor: Bridget Harney


MON 21:00 Dads and the Delivery Room (m000cmrd)
Sixty years ago, fewer than 15% of fathers were present at their child’s birth. Today 98% are there. It’s a cultural change that has been almost universally accepted. But the impact on dads has also gone largely un-examined.

Fi Glover meets dads who have experienced extremely different births. Most say that being there was the most momentous event of their lives. But, in private, some will also say the experience was one of the most bewildering and frightening.

Using special access to a maternity ward in London Fi Glover meets a father whose son was born prematurely at 27 weeks. He was offered support from the hospital’s counselling unit in the weeks afterwards. But it’s only in the last couple of years that perinatal counselling has become available to dads at all.

In Newcastle Dan Wilde recently found himself playing midwife when his partner Kate gave birth very quickly at home. His experience, backed recently by research from the Fatherhood Institute, shows how active participation during a birth can correlate with a lowering of anxiety. Theirs was a positive experience.

But what happens when fear and circumstance turn the dad into a spectator rather than a participant? Mark Williams, whose son was born via emergency caesarean section, was eventually diagnosed with PTSD related to birth trauma. He has become a campaigner for better awareness around paternal mental health and suggests that screening might have helped to protect him from an experience he was unable to cope with.

Produced by Sarah Cuddon
A Somethin’ Else Production for Radio 4


MON 21:30 Positive Thinking (m000cpzr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cn50)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cn3w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 Have You Heard George's Podcast? (p07vscp9)
Chapter 2

17. The Bag

The Insecurity Guards hunt down ideas before they can make it onto George’s podcast.

Written by George The Poet.
Produced by Benbrick & George The Poet.
Original music by Benbrick.

Featured songs: Playa Hater by The Notorious B.I.G., St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins, Middle of the Night by The Clovers, Easy Snapping by Theophilus Beckford, Freedom Sound by The Skatalites, Simmer Down by The Wailers, My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small, Joe Liges by Delroy Wilson, I Spy (feat. Headie One & K-Trap) by Krept & Konan

Featured guests: Jawad Ifraz, Andrew Bell, Chris Bernard, Patrin, Tasneim Zyada, Aaron Daniels, Lams, Tyra Mai, Petra

Clips taken from the BBC Archive: Reggae – The Story of Jamaican Music (Forward March).

Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds.

Commissioning Executive for BBC: Dylan Haskins
Commissioning Editor for BBC: Jason Phipps


MON 23:30 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m0003km8)
Episode 3: A Gamer

Comedian James Veitch gets a challenge from his Radio 4 producer when caught playing Sonic the Hedgehog.

In need of a task for this episode and riled by his producer's dismissal of gaming, James Veitch sets out on a mission to design him a game that's artistically credible and intellectually compelling.

His challenge will send him to leading industry analysts, trailblazing designers and into the scrutinous gaze of a roomful of teenagers.

James Veitch's TED Talk - "This is what happens when you reply to spam email" - was a massive hit.

The voice of The Producer is Laurence Grissell. The actual Producer is Sam Peach.



TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2019

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000cn52)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:15 Living Memory (m0005t6z)
That's Life, I Suppose!

There's an estimated 15,000 people in Britain who have reached the age of 100 and received the famous telegram from the Queen. That's 0.02% of the overall population.

Over five programmes, we hear from some of them about the lives they've led, their experiences in the last 100 years, the lessons they've learned and how they view the future.

Today we hear from Richard Braithwaite from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a retired collector of taxes; Olive Gordon, who arrived in London from British Guyana in 1952 believing the streets would be paved with gold - she was to be disappointed; Phyllis Haley, who's now 108 although she can't always keep count; and Ronald Atkins from Preston, the UK's oldest former MP.

(With thanks to Orders of St John Care Trust)

Produced by Hannah Dean and Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cv9l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cn56)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cn58)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cn5b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000cn5d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cn5g)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Hogmanay is upon us, the archetypal party season. Attitudes to partying are fascinating. I wonder if you enjoy them or not. You might well respond that it depends up on the party!

Sometimes heaven is pictured as an eternal party, the greatest whoopee-do of all. That’s not good news for non-partying animals. The point, though, I think, is to picture heaven as somewhere where there will be joy and gladness. The Book of Revelation gives a vision of the end times in which God will be with humanity and will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.

That is surely a picture that would commend itself to everyone. There’s so much suffering in the world, some of it needless, and whether or not we have to endure it ourselves I imagine we would all want it to be eliminated. And we can play a part in that. In this coming year, perhaps we could commit to ‘doing our bit’ to make the world a happier place. There’s much we cannot do but we all have the capacity to wipe away the tears of others, to spread care and concern in our families, among our friends and in the communities of which we are a part. We won’t manage to create heaven on earth this coming year but we can make sure it is as little like hell as possible for those around us.

A prayer of Carter Heywood:

Tender God, touch us
Be touched by us;
Make us lovers of humanity,
Compassionate friends of all creation.
Gracious God, hear us into speech,
Speak us into acting;
And through us, recreate the world.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000cn5j)
Inspiring The Archers

The Archers is one of the longest running soaps in the world. It started as a way to help educate farmers, but that aim has long since changed. So what's it for now? And how do real farmers feel about it?

Charlotte Smith speaks to the programme's agricultural story advisor, Sarah Swadling, and visits two of the farms that have helped inspire Archers story lines.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09k0nw2)
Alison Steadman - The Twelve Tweets of Christmas 12 of 12

During this season of goodwill our thoughts turn to crackling fires, being with the family and for many a song or a carol to bring merriment to the colder days. Tweet of the Day has been entertaining early morning listeners to the Radio 4 schedule every day since 2013, but this Christmas we will delight in an avian offering of the well known song the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Reaching the the final verse of the song brings a requirement for twelve drummers drumming. As actress Alison Steadman recalls, is that the sound of drumming a distant drum-roll I can hear? Or maybe just a male snipe on an amorous fly by?

Producer : Andrew Dawes
Photograph: Steve Waddingham.


TUE 06:00 Today (m000cmym)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Positive Thinking (m000cq0c)
The New Seaside

The Victorian splendour of many of Britain’s coastal towns has long faded. Many of them rank among our most economically deprived communities. The Southend-born writer Farrah Jarral talks to people who believe in a brighter future by the seaside, including an entrepreneur with a vision for the Wirral. Is he our New Victorian?


TUE 09:30 Witness (m000d1qn)
Chester Williams - South African rugby legend

In 1995, South Africa won an emotional victory as hosts of the Rugby World Cup shortly after the end of apartheid. Chester Williams was the only black player in the team and became a personal friend of President Nelson Mandela. Williams’ death in September 2019 was widely mourned in South Africa and beyond. His friend and fellow rugby player Jerome Paarwater tells his story to Rebecca Kesby.


TUE 09:45 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cw5n)
Episode 2

Clive James reads his autobiography. The pleasure of terrorising the neighbourhood in a homemade cape and mask.

Australian-born Clive James reads the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, exploring his life growing up from being an accident prone child actor who hated school, through to national service and a place at Sydney University.

Clive James - writer, broadcaster and poet - was known around the world for his dry wit. Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1962 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television. The show saw him introduce amusing and off-beat TV clips from around the world, most famously from Japanese game show Endurance.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life. He died on 24th November at his home in Cambridge, where he had attended university and where his funeral took place at Pembroke College. He was 80 years old.

Unreliable Memoirs was first published in 1980.
It was abridged and produced by Jane Marshall, and read by Clive James.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 2 first broadcast in 2001.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cmyw)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 Charlotte and Lillian (b096j4m6)
Series 1

The Mirror

In the throes of splitting up from her boyfriend, 29-year-old Charlotte (Helen Monks) is determined to prove she's not as self-centred as he says she is. She signs up as a volunteer to visit the elderly, expecting to be paired with a frail and needy old lady who's full of gratitude and appreciation for such a selfless act. Instead she meets 82-year-old Lillian (Miriam Margolyes), a belligerent and feisty old bat who sees through her in an instant.

Needless to say, they don't get on.

Helping Lillian clear out her garage is undoubtedly a Good Turn, but it's not long before Charlotte's self-interest gets the better of her. She spots a vintage treasure in amongst Lillian's junk and, determined to get her hands on it, attempts to manipulate Lillian into giving it to her. Not only does her plan backfire spectacularly, but it also reveals how both women are just as greedy as each other.

This four-part, two-actress comedy, written by Holly Walsh and Kat Sommers, was recorded on location and features the fantastic combination of Miriam Margolyes and Helen Monks, working together for the first time.

A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 11:00 Fidget on Four (m000cmyz)
Most of us fidget. This inability to keep still might involve repeatedly bouncing a knee up and down, playing with strands of hair, foot tapping, clicking a pen or doodling.

Fidgeting is most often associated with a lack of concentration and boredom, but studies are showing that targeted fidgeting helps people focus, calms the symptoms of ADHD and may even be meditative.

Some people, like presenter Dr Kat Arney, harness their natural tendency to fidget by knitting - and she’s not alone. There is ongoing research into the therapeutic benefits of crafts. Knitted muffs, covered in buttons, bells and ribbons to encourage fidgeting, are known to soothe people with dementia and are often used in care homes.

It’s time to realise that fidgeting can be a tool for concentration for everyone - provided it’s done in the right way.

The key to understanding why we fidget may lie in deciphering the neuroscientific processes at work in the brain and body as we do (or don’t) choose to move. Dr Arney examines what drives people to fidget, the research behind it and whether fidgeting is a help or hindrance to our physical and mental wellbeing - as well as what form of fidgeting works and what doesn’t.

Contributors include neuroscientist Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York), clinical psychologist Roland Rotz (Lifespan Development Centre, California), Janet Cade (University of Leeds), Betsan Corkhill (Stitchlinks), Dave Bell (Dementia UK) and Louise Tomlins (The Accidental Knitter).

Producer: Sue Nelson
A Boffin Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:30 There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin (m0001rzj)
Michael Palin, Britain’s nicest man, is probably Britain’s busiest man too, which might explain why he’s asked James Peak to step in and write him some limericks.

Limericks are the simplest of verse forms - only five lines, a bit of rhyming, and half of the first line "There once was a..." is already written for you.

It's child’s play you’d think - but writing a really good limerick is not as easy as it sounds.

Join Michael and James for a ridiculous half hour that proves, once and for all, that if you want something doing properly you should do it yourself.

With thanks to the National Poetry Library at the Southbank Centre.

Window Cleaner ….. Harriet Carmichael
Limerick Expert ….. Chris McCabe (as himself)

Written by Michael Palin and James Peak.

Producers: Andre Jacquemin and James Peak

A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000cmz3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmz7)
Episode 7

Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...

The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000cmzc)
Call You and Yours

News and discussion of consumer affairs.


TUE 12:57 Weather (m000cmzh)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m000cmzm)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


TUE 13:45 Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? (m000b5ks)
Episode 2: Lots of Potential

Comedian and classicist Jon Harvey, who challenged Theresa May in the 2017 general election as Lord Buckethead, explores modern British democracy through an ancient Athenian lens. If the one thing we can all agree on is that our state is in a state, could the world’s original democrats could help us right the ship?

Democracy was born in ancient Athens and lasted for nearly 200 years. Not all Athenians were democrats - perhaps the most famously outspoken anti-democrat Socrates ended up sentenced to death, ironically by a vote of the people. But if an Athenian democrat time-travelled to 2019, what would he make of what's going on in Britain? Could he fix the chaos?

Written and presented by Jon Harvey
Produced by Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer: Dixi Stewart

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000cmzs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 North By Northamptonshire (b06sny99)
North By Northamptonshire: Full Stop

A heart-warming comedy drama with a stellar cast who come together, one last time, to bring the much-loved and critically acclaimed series to a close.

It's New Year's Eve and the inhabitants of Wadenbrook, having recently performed their own amateur production of My Fair Lady are excited to be off to see a professional and starry production at Birmingham's Hippodrome. Former school teacher Mary has, of course, organised the trip, with a rather uncharacteristic ulterior motive at the end of it. The indefatigable Norman will come along too, spurred on at the thought of seeing Strictly dancer Favia Cacace in the flesh. Long suffering Jan's excited about the qualities Lionel Blair will bring to the role of Higgins, and gentle Jonathan follows wherever Jan goes. (As long as his ex-wife Esther and the cuckoo Orson don't object). At least they will have Ken and Keith there - Wadenbrook's most enduring couple and the cement that binds them all together and a badly kept secret that everyone's bursting to tell.

Written by Katherine Jakeways.

Narrator...Sheila Hancock

Esther and Radio DJ... Katherine Jakeways
Jan...Felicity Montagu
Keith...John Biggins
Ken and Jonathan...Kevin Eldon
Mary...Penelope Wilton
Norman...Geoffrey Palmer
Orson...Simon Kane

Script Editor...Richard Turner

Producer...Julia Mckenzie

A BBC Radio Comedy Production


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000cmzw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Making History (m000cn00)
Back to the Future

Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence present the show that explores the historical connections behind today's issues.

In this New Year's Eve programme, Tom and Iszi look at what history has had to say about the future. They explore when "the future" emerged as a concept and why some people thought they could foretell it

They look at the time when the future became political and ask what we can know about our ancestors' fears from the science fiction they produced.

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:00 Soul Music (b085trlz)
Auld Lang Syne

It's gone from being an 18th century song about impotence to one of the best known songs all over the world. Most of us have sung Auld Lang Syne at some point in our lives on New Year's Eve, but how many of us know more than a few of the words and anything of its origin and meaning? Soul Music hears the stories behind the song, how it went from being a reflective melancholic Scottish air about the parting of the ways, to the jaunty tune we know today. There are also stories of love, sorrow, hope and joy, emotions that are especially heightened at this time of year.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000cldv)
Series 50

Bill Bailey on his hero Alfred Russel Wallace

Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is best known for what used to be known as the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. When he died in 1913, the New York Times called him the last of the 'giants belonging to that wonderful group of intellectuals ... whose daring investigations revolutionised and evolutionised the thought of the century."
Born in 1823, Wallace was a collector, a writer, a keen conservationist, and Bill has been to Borneo to see Wallace's famous flying frog.
With Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, and presented by Matthew Parris.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.


TUE 17:00 PM (m000cn06)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cn0b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:15 Ghost Stories from Ambridge (m000cn0h)
Lost Hearts

On a biting December night, in the darkened attic of Lower Loxley, Jim Lloyd enthrals an assembly of Ambridge residents with three chilling ghost stories from the turn of the last century. In Lost Hearts, a young boy arrives at the house of his generous benefactor to find all is not as it seems. A series of disturbing events and an invitation lead him to a macabre discovery.

Narrator ..… John Rowe
Written by M.R. James
Abridged by Jeremy Osborne

Produced and directed by Mel Ward


TUE 18:30 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (m000cn0p)
Case #524 - New Year's Evil

Acclaimed double-act Max and Ivan return one last time as incompetent private detectives for hire.

It’s New Year’s Eve, but any plans for celebration are put on ice as Max and Ivan are tasked with investigating fearsome crime family matriarch, Mama Shanks - played by special guest Katherine Parkinson.

Word on the street is that she has something big planned for this very evening but, in a plot that takes in vaping, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and 10,000 bees, can Max and Ivan find out what it going down before it is too late?

Cast:
Max ..... Max Olesker
Ivan ..... Ivan Gonzalez
Martha Shanks ..... Katherine Parkinson
Narrator / Malcolm McMichaelmas ..... Lewis MacLeod
Lumpy ..... Jessica Ransom
PC Gribble ..... David Reed

Written by Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez
Original music by Huw Olesker and Samuel H James
Developed by John Stanley Productions
Produced by Ben Walker
A Hare and Tortoise production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000cn0t)
It’s New Year’s Eve at The Bull and Helen’s dressed to impress.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000cn0y)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mcmng)
My Life with Flu

Episode 2

By Sarah Woods

A love story, about flu.

It's 1975, six years since Jill and David huddled under the blankets together, full of flu. Now Jill is preparing to marry John – the wedding preparations are in full swing, but then David arrives on the doorstep.

My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.

The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.

Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Minister.... Alun Raglan
Yvette.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production


TUE 20:00 A Guide to Disagreeing Better (m000cn12)
Why do we hold our opponents in contempt? Former politician Douglas Alexander believes that disagreement is good, it's how the best arguments get refined. But, today, public discourse has become so ill-tempered, snide and lacking in respect that we are no longer engaged in a battle of ideas but a slanging match. He talks to people with personal tales about how we might all raise our game and disagree better, among them a relationship counsellor, an ex-soldier, a peace broker and a foster mother. Their tips? Civility is not enough. And knowledge is essential, as well as radical honesty, fierce intimacy and openness. So, dial down the rhetoric, rein in the insults - they will persuade no-one that your opinion is worth listening to - and pay attention.
Producer: Rosamund Jones
Researcher: Kirsteen Knight


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000cn16)
A ‘melodious’ New Year

This is the second episode in which a flautist, a singer, a composer and multi-instrumentalist swap stories about making it in their chosen profession. They discuss how they got into the industry, whether blindness gives them an advantage and share their tips for success

Guests: Liz Hargest, Shaun Hayward, Andre Louis, Anne Wilkins.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat


TUE 21:00 Have You Heard George's Podcast? (m0009z3m)
Special: Welcome to the World of George the Poet

Award-winning podcaster and spoken word artist George the Poet comes to the BBC’s own Radio Theatre for a one-off live show exploring what rap can teach us about education.

For George, rap was always a vehicle for knowledge. But it isn’t always taken seriously by an establishment that often sees it as unconstructive. Rap was an essential part of George’s own development as a poet, and studying Sociology at Cambridge University allowed him to look more closely at what rap can do for marginalised communities. This show charts George’s own story of education – his evolution from Grime MC to Cambridge student to spoken word artist – and pays homage to the rap music that shaped him and his peers.

George brings a number of friends to the stage to explore what rap can teach us about education.

DJ Target is a 1Xtra DJ and a founding member of UK Grime collective Roll Deep. In his book Grime Kids he charts the creation of the groundbreaking music genre that gave voice to a generation.

Neuroscientist Dr Becky Inkster and psychiatrist Dr Akeem Sule are co-founders of Hip Hop Psych. Hip Hop Psych dissects hip hop lyrics to analyse the mechanisms of mental health problems, signals which are sometimes overlooked because of their mode of communication.

Temi Mwale has been committed to the fight against youth violence since her childhood friend Marvin Henry was murdered. At 17, Temi founded the 4Front Project, a grassroots organisation based in the estate she grew up in, which delivers specialist programmes that support personal development, legal empowerment and social action across vulnerable communities.

Holly Branson joined the Virgin Group as an active member of the Leadership team in 2008, after achieving medical and physiology degrees from University College London and realising her dream of working as a doctor. She is Chair of Virgin Unite, a Founder and trustee of education charity Big Change and Co-Chair of WE Day UK. In 2018, Holly published her first book, co-authored with Marc and Craig Kielburger: WEconomy: You can find meaning, make a living, and change the world.

Sonita Alleyne OBE is the new Master of Jesus College, Cambridge. She is the first woman to be the Master of Jesus College and the first black person to lead any Oxbridge college. Sonita is the co-founder and former CEO of media production company Somethin’ Else. Alleyne’s board roles have included the National Employment Panel and the London Skills and Employment Board, chair of the Radio Sector Skills Council and non-executive director of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Featuring an exclusive poem from Chapter Two of the podcast with music written by Benbrick.

With performances from the BBC Concert Orchestra and Maverick Sabre.

An extended version of this programme is available as a podcast on BBC Sounds, and on iPlayer.

Produced by Anne Isger


TUE 22:00 Pick of the Year (m000cl3k)
Pick of the Year 2019

Brexitcast presenters Katya Adler and Adam Fleming co-host a selection of BBC radio highlights from the past year.

With notable dramas, documentaries and memorable moments from 2019, including a journey into Forest 404; Pippa Evans hitting the high notes; and Today says farewell to John Humphrys.

Producer: Stephen Garner
Production Support: Kay Whyld


TUE 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cmz7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 Loose Ends (m000cn1d)
Music from The Divine Comedy, Bonnie Tyler, Six the musical, Jeff Goldblum and more

Clive Anderson closes the year with a choice selection of music performed live in the Loose Ends studio in 2019, including The Divine Comedy, Six the musical, Bonnie Tyler, Angelique Kidjo and more - including a unique collaboration between Jeff Goldblum and his band and the singer Tawiah.

Producer Sukey Firth



WEDNESDAY 01 JANUARY 2020

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000cn1j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:15 Living Memory (m0005tpr)
Cope and Carry On!

There's an estimated 15,000 people in Britain who have reached the age of 100 and received the famous telegram from the Queen. That's 0.02% of the overall population.

Over five programmes, we hear from some of them about the lives they've led, their experiences in the last 100 years, the lessons they've learned and how they view the future.

Today's centenarians are both actors.

Earl Cameron, a seafarer from Bermuda, came to prominence having been marooned in London during the Second World War. From severe poverty and much discrimination, he set about making a life for himself in England, eventually becoming one of the first black actors to break into British theatre, television and film.

June Spencer, born this day exactly 100 years ago, is most widely known among Radio 4 listeners as Peggy in The Archers. It's her motto for life that gives this final episode its title. It used to be "never give up", but she's realised, looking at the state of the world as well as her own circumstances, that there are some things you need to give up on. Now, it's "cope and carry on".

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cw5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cn1n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cn1s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cn1x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000cn21)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cn25)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Anyone listening to this either went to bed before midnight or didn’t get much sleep. Whichever, a very Happy New Year to you.

New Year’s resolutions tend to divide opinion: people are either very committed to them, at the beginning of the year, at any rate, or they can’t abide them. The proverbial Marmite effect.

Whatever our attitude, what lies behind them – the invitation to reflect on what’s important, is surely worth considering. Clergy have a habit of going on retreat: a period of time used to pray and study quietly, or to think carefully, away from normal activities and duties of parish life: I was once given a task on retreat: to write my own obituary. At first I thought it rather macabre but as I got into it I found it a really helpful exercise: it enabled me to reflect on what it’s worth spending time on and what it is not; what I really care about and what I don’t; what is worth fighting for and what is not; what I would want to be remembered for. It put things into a helpful perspective as I tried to reflect on my life. I commend it, even if you don’t feel it’s quite the thing for New Year’s Day itself.

Loving God, give me grace to make good use of the time given to me here on earth.
In this coming year, give me the wisdom to know how best to use my time, my talents, my energy and my resources.
Help me to discern what it’s worth spending time on and what it is not; what I really care about and what I don’t; what it’s worth fighting for and what it is not.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000cn29)
National Pig Centre

At the National Pig Centre in Yorkshire, all of the latest technology is used to study the behaviour and development of pigs. From a computer programme which can recognise and track individual pigs throughout their lives...to precision feeding machines which monitor exactly how much each pig eats and drinks.

In this programme, Charlotte Smith visits the facility on the day it opens, and meet the scientists who hope their research can shape future farming techniques and policy.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mg1dc)
Song Thrush (Winter)

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

David Attenborough presents the story of the song thrush and reads a passage from Thomas Hardy's poem, The Darkling Thrush.

Written at the end of the 19th century, this poem is about the hope that birdsong can bring at the bleakest time of the year. This episode examines how often song thrushes sing in winter.


WED 06:00 Today (m000cp1p)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Positive Thinking (m000cqbw)
All Under One Roof?

Meet Stephen Burke.  He’s a man on a mission. He's identified two big problems: the lack of affordable housing for young people and and a growing sense of isolation amongst older people. He says he's got one big idea that could solve both problems. His aim is to grow the idea from local project to UK wide solution.
To do that he needs attitudes to change and Radio 4 has offered to help by putting the concept through their Ideas Lab.
Presenter: Sangita Myska
Producer: Sarah Shebbeare


WED 09:30 Four Thought (m000clfc)
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

Ashley Hickson-Lovence says his powerful mother and his love of reading kept him out of gangs while growing up on an estate in East London. As a former English teacher and now a debut novelist, he believes black boys, in particular, need books to read that engage them by reflecting their own lives. "Not everyone can have a mother like mine, but everyone deserves the key to the world of books which could change their lives."
Recorded at Primadonna literary and arts festival.
Presenter: Farrah Jarral
Producer: Sheila Cook


WED 09:45 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cx9z)
Episode 3

Clive James reads his autobiography. Saying no to a Sidney High School bursary to go to the dilapidated Sydney Tech.

Australian-born Clive James reads the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, exploring his life growing up from being an accident prone child actor who hated school, through to national service and a place at Sydney University.

Clive James - writer, broadcaster and poet - was known around the world for his dry wit. Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1962 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television. The show saw him introduce amusing and off-beat TV clips from around the world, most famously from Japanese game show Endurance.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life. He died on 24th November at his home in Cambridge, where he had attended university and where his funeral took place at Pembroke College. He was 80 years old.

Unreliable Memoirs was first published in 1980.
It was abridged and produced by Jane Marshall, and read by Clive James.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 2 first broadcast in 2001.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cp1t)
The World for Women in 2020

As we stand at the start of a new decade we look at three key issues that will shape women’s lives in the 2020s. And we hear some big ideas on how things could change.

How to tackle the crisis in social care in the 2020s? Given the fundamental caring roles women perform in households, what new ways of thinking about and valuing care work might help find solutions?

In women’s health: Are we getting access to the right treatments and diagnosis? With the growing visibility of conditions such as endometriosis, so long down played as women’s troubles, we’ll ask what treatments and drugs are getting funded and why. How could science and medicine better serve women?

What does the workplace of the 2020s need to look like for women? And how do we get there?

Our guests are Kate Raworth, a self-described renegade economist, the sciences author Angela Senni, GP and Clinical Director of PatiencAccess.com, Kate Jarvis, and the writer and activist Beatrix Campbell.

Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
Guest: Kate Raworth
Guest: Angela Senni
Guest: Sarah Jarvis
Guest: Beatrix Campbell


WED 10:41 Charlotte and Lillian (m00094k1)
Series 2

The Game

Charlotte (Helen Monks) and Lillian (Miriam Margolyes) are back, spending time together as part of a Befriend the Elderly scheme. They may bicker about everything from signs of dementia to the appeal of Harry Styles, but underneath it’s clear they are two kindred spirits. Two selfish, self-absorbed spirits, but ones who mirror and rely on each other nonetheless.

Very nearly 30, Charlotte is still living at home with her parents and chronically unable to figure out what to do with her life. Beneath her attempt at do-gooding is barely disguised despair. She's terrified she is no good. Useless. Unlovable. She looks to Lillian to provide some meaning to her life - if she can help to improve Lillian’s life somehow, she’d feel a lot better about her own. And there’s all the kudos and social media likes that come with charity work - not to mention the lure of Lillian's large spare room.

Lillian meanwhile is still her ebullient self, but her facade hides a nagging fear of what's to come - her body is giving up on her. Lillian's motto is still “Keep Buggering On” – aka keep getting at Charlotte – but increasingly, she’s forced to wonder why. She masks all this by doubling down and manipulating Charlotte into carrying out all her menial tasks. If Charlotte won’t do them, there are plenty of other volunteers who will.

Charlotte has met a new man, prompting Lillian to offer up her best dating advice. Things may have changed since Lillian’s day, but some of her suggestions contain hard-won, ageless wisdom. The trouble is, Charlotte can't tell which ones – and Lillian may not have her best interests at heart.

Charlotte: Helen Monks
Lillian: Miriam Margolyes
Written by: Kat Sommers and Holly Walsh
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m000cp1w)
Lee and Steven - Returning to Heaven

Friends united in their joy at returning home to the wonders of the Welsh valleys. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


WED 11:00 Who Will Call Me Beloved? (m000b4r1)
Tania Hershman is single, lives alone and likes it that way. She's the writer-in-residence in one of Europe’s largest graveyards, the Southern Cemetery, a multi-faith burial site in Manchester. As she walks between the gravestones, watching the seasons change, she wonders - who will call her 'beloved' when she dies? And would she want someone to? How would she like to be remembered in language, if at all ?

In this programme Tania talks to the living and the dead – about love and memory – and about the resonance of the word ‘beloved’ .

Tania Hershman is the author of three short story collections, including 'Some Of Us Glow More Than Others' (Unthank Books). Her debut poetry collection is 'Terms & Conditions' (Nine Arches Press), she's also the curator of short story hub 'ShortStops'. 'Who Will Call Me Beloved' features extracts from Tania's work-in-progress book - inspired partly by spending time in the 'Southern Cemetery'.

Presenter: Tania Hershman
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonetreet
Featuring music from 'Choral ReWorks' by Scanner
Photo credit: Huntley Hedworth.


WED 11:30 Jeeves - Live! (m000cqgz)
Indian Summer of an Uncle

Award-winning Martin Jarvis performs the first of two PG Wodehouse comic classics, live on-stage. Jeeves as ‘stand-up’!

Bertie is pressurised by his intimidating Aunt Agatha to "save the family reputation" and prevent an uncle from making a potentially embarrassing marriage. Bertie fails in his mission. Can the inimitable Jeeves come to the rescue?

A packed house at The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Surrey rocks with laughter as Martin Jarvis entertains playing Jeeves, Bertie and the rest.

Director: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m000cp1y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cp20)
Episode 8

Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...

The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

Reader ….. Simon Russell Beale
Writer ….. Philip Pullman
Abridger ….. Doreen Estall
Producer ….. Michael Shannon


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000cp22)
What's next for the package holiday industry after the collapse of Thomas Cook?

It's the time of year when we start thinking about booking our summer holiday.

But, after Thomas Cook collapsed into administration, will our summer holiday still cost the same? Is there still consumer confidence in the package holiday market?

We speak to some of the biggest names in the industry, including On The Beach, Virgin Holidays, and Polka Dot Travel.

We hear claims that nearly a third of UK travel agents and tour operators are at risk of going out of business over the next few years.

The Civil Aviation Authority tells us how the repatriation of Thomas Cook customers worked when the company went bust. We also hear how flying customers home and the compensation claims that followed, have depleted the ATOL fund that protects consumers who book a package.

But, independent travel agents are doing well and are expanding on to more high streets. We hear how the package holiday has evolved over the years to keep up with our more adventurous demands, and why we still like to book our holidays with the help of an expert.

Presenter: Samantha Fenwick
Producer: Lydia Thomas


WED 12:57 Weather (m000cp24)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m000cp26)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


WED 13:45 Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? (m000b4wy)
Episode 3: How much is too much?

Comedian and classicist Jon Harvey, who challenged Theresa May in the 2017 general election as Lord Buckethead, explores modern British democracy through an ancient Athenian lens. If the one thing we can all agree on is that our state is in a state, could the world’s original democrats could help us right the ship?

Democracy was born in ancient Athens and lasted for nearly 200 years. Not all Athenians were democrats - perhaps the most famously outspoken anti-democrat Socrates ended up sentenced to death, ironically by a vote of the people. But if an Athenian democrat time-travelled to 2019, what would he make of what's going on in Britain? Could he fix the chaos?

Written and presented by Jon Harvey
Produced by Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer: Dixi Stewart

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m000cn0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (m000cp28)
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 Deuteronomy, 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 .

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

Gus: The Theatre Cat
The Old Gumbie Cat
Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town
Cat Morgan introduces Himself
The Ad-dressing of Cats

Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts


WED 15:00 Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (m000cp2b)
Playing in the Dark (Part 2)

Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre.

In this second part of a very special concert (the first part was broadcast on Christmas Day), he joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mihhail Gerts, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses.

He is joined on stage by Amanda Palmer who sings A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and David Tennant, reading from Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett's work "Good Omens".

This is an edited version of the full concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 December 2019.

All written works: Neil Gaiman (with Sir Terry Pratchett for Good Omens)
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts
Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for BBC Symphony Orchestra: Ann McKay
General manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4

Music played in part two of the concert:
WAGNER: The Ride of the Valkyries
HERRMAN: Prelude from Fahrenheit 451
BRITTEN: Sinfonia da Requiem (2nd movement)
SHERWIN/MASCHWITZ: A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square


WED 16:00 The Quietest New Year on Earth (b055jy1k)
Black-clad security men stalk the streets hunting down people making noise and silencing them.
No music, no laughter, no engines, no computer games.
Instead maybe a barking dog, a fly buzzing against a window pane, or a mother stifling a child's cry. In the paddy fields the crickets, the frogs and the beetles chirrup on, but the roads are empty, the skies free from vapour trails.
No human noise at all. Just silence.

This is not a scenario from some chilling science-fiction tale, but New Year's Day on the Hindu island of Bali, where Nyepi, as the day is known, is welcomed in by a day of silence - a day to fool the evil spirits into believing that everyone has gone and their work is done.

Of course, in one of the fastest growing property markets in the world, there is pressure for change, as overseas visitors exert more influence, and Muslim influence from the Indonesian mainland increases. But somehow Nyepi still has a powerful hold on the lives and imaginations of the Balinese, as the entire population falls silent for 24 hours – an island population known for one of the noisiest music traditions in the world - gamelan.
It's a tradition that most locals take part in gladly, taking a chance to contemplate the year to come and using the time to meditate - whilst increasingly tourists are drawn to experience this unique atmosphere. Would you prefer a day of contemplating or a hangover to start the New Year?

From the exorcisms the night before, through the day of silence itself, we hear the tensions mount – till the morning after.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall

With additional material gathered by
Maria Bakkalapulo - reporter
Niall Macaulay - field recordist
Wayan Tilik - assistant and translator
John Stanmeyer - audio contributor, Melasti and Ogoh Ogoh


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000cp2d)
The British drama boom

The UK's traditional TV channels might be losing viewers to Netflix and Amazon, but when it comes to the actual shows we're all streaming, British producers are responsible for many of them. In this special edition of The Media Show, Amol Rajan asks how long will the drama boom last?

Guests: Kate Harwood, managing director of Euston Films, Jason Kingsley, co-founder of Rebellion, Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, and Rhianna Dhillon, film and TV critic

Producer: Richard Hooper
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez

Photo credit: Baghdad Central, the new Channel 4 thriller produced by Euston Films.


WED 17:00 PM (m000cp2g)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cp2j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:15 Ghost Stories from Ambridge (m000cp2l)
The Monkey’s Paw

On a biting December night, in the darkened attic of Lower Loxley, Jim Lloyd enthrals an assembly of Ambridge residents with three chilling ghost stories from the turn of the last century. The Monkey’s Paw follows a family who dare to direct their future when they wish upon a bewitched monkey’s paw. Will they meet their fate or fortune?

Narrator ..… John Rowe
Written by W.W. Jacobs
Abridged by Jeremy Howe

Produced and directed by Charlotte Davey


WED 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cp2n)
The Counterfeiter

The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive.

The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show were missing from the BBC archives. Now, after four highly successful series, the final batch of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.

Tonight's episode: Hancock's fed up with Bill Kerr spending all day in bed, and decides to find him a job. But with Sid James involved, things were always going to get complicated.

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score re-recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. The Counterfeiter was never recorded by the original team, and the cast and crew of The Missing Hancocks are proud to present a Hancock premiere.

Produced by Neil Pearson & Hayley Sterling.

Written by Ray Galton & Simpson

Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.

A BBC Studios Production.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m000cl6m)
Kenton despairs and Jim’s feeling green.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m000cp2r)
Beethoven at 250

A celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven, marking the composer's 250th anniversary year.

To discuss what sets Beethoven apart from other composers, John Wilson is joined by pianist Stephen Hough, poet Ruth Padel, Oxford Professor of Music Laura Tunbridge and conductor Sir Simon Rattle, who says of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony: "It is too much of everything!... this is a composer inventing the music of the next one hundred years"

Throughout 2020 Simon Rattle will be conducting Beethoven with the London Symphony Orchestra, starting in January with Symphonies 7 and 9 and the rarely performed Oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives.

Stephen Hough's recording of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos will be released later this year, as will Laura Tunbridge's major biography of the composer.

Ruth Padel's collection Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life is published at the end of January.

Radio 3 is celebrating Beethoven’s 250th anniversary with a year-long series, Beethoven Unleashed, launching on 13 January with Composer of the Week.

Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Timothy Prosser


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04md4nk)
My Life with Flu

Episode 3

By Sarah Woods

A love story, about flu.

1986, New York – Jill and David embark upon an illicit affair. And as she travels home for Christmas Jill has a life changing decision to make. But inside her body, Hong Kong Flu is travelling with her.

My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.

The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.

Jill.... Hannah Daniel
David.... Ronan Summers
John.... Liam Williams
Paramedic 1.... Alun Raglan
Paramedic 2.... Eirlys Bellin
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production


WED 20:00 The Spark (m000cp2w)
Paul Krugman v zombie economics

Helen Lewis meets the writers and thinkers who are breaking new ground.

From politics to economics, from tech to the study of how we live, things are changing fast. Old certainties have not been under such challenge for decades.

So each week, we give the whole programme over to a single in-depth, close-up interview with someone whose big idea is bidding to change our world.

Helen’s challenge is to make sense of their new idea, to find out more about the person behind it – and to test what it has to offer us against the failures of the past.

This week, Helen talks to Paul Krugman, recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, and author of Arguing With Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future, about the ideas he contends block the path to positive change.

Producer: Phil Tinline


WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000clfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 21:00 Josie Long's Gambit (m000cnby)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


WED 21:30 Positive Thinking (m000cqbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cp30)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cp20)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 My Brilliant Life (m000cp34)
Alistair McGowan stars as a host of famous people in this new comedy about a man who spends his life on the road, daydreaming about the brilliant life that he’s never had.

Harry Pye could have been a great actor, writer, sportsman, politician or rock ’n' roll star. He could have been - but he isn’t. Instead he is on his third marriage to the menopausal Sue, is half of a pub-gigging musical duo with his best mate Jason, and spends his days as a red-plate driver. He drives up and down the motorways of Britain delivering luxury cars that he knows he’ll never be able to afford to own, while being constantly harangued over his hands-free phone by his millennial boss, Kaley.

It’s true that Harry’s life hasn’t been exactly brilliant but, alone in the car, all the attention and accolades that life have denied him are abundantly supplied by his active imagination. Because, in his daydreams, Harry mingles with and glitters among a staggering array of famous friends - all voiced by Alistair McGowan.

He has created a dazzling celebrity world and placed himself right at its centre. He collects awards for the books he’s never written and films he’s never made and is feted for political wisdom and sporting prowess he doesn’t possess.

Cast:
Harry ..... Alistair McGowan
Sue ..... Charlotte Page

Written by Alistair McGowan and David Spicer
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (b062kx53)
Series 2

Episode 6

Two men in darkness, sharing a bunk bed and a stream of semi-consciousness about family, relationships, work and imagined life.

We all crave a place where our mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place from daily life. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air. Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, the restless mind can wander.

After an acclaimed reception by The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer and Radio 4 listeners, Bunk Bed returns with its late night stream of semi-concsciousness.

In this episode, toe-curling accounts of professional blunders, the meaning of hackneyed, writing Alan Partridge, the sadness of Chas and Dave and Peter Curran's horror at his tally of 7,000 interviews.

Elsewhere in the series, Patrick and Peter deal with Therapy, children's happiness, JRR Tolkien, Babycham, Aldous Huxley, and correction fluid - among a ragbag of subjects.

Written and performed by Patrick Marber and Peter Curran
Producer: Peter Curran
A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m000c2v1)
Mindfulness

Comedian and YouTube star James Veitch wonders if mindfulness can help him create a new factual podcast format.

Miraculously, BBC Radio 4 have commissioned James to make another three episodes. But, as ever, James lacks focus and application.

Could mindfulness be the answer? James turns to renowned mindfulness expert Sam Harris for help.

Producer: Laurence Grissell



THURSDAY 02 JANUARY 2020

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000cp38)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cx9z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cp3d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cp3h)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cp3n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000cp3s)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cp3x)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

It won’t be news to any of us that we’re facing what many are calling a climate emergency. You may be tired of hearing about it: for many people a sense of fatigue has set in. It’s very important that we shouldn’t try to block it from our consciousness, though, because I believe there’s no more pressing, urgent, important, crucial issue facing humanity. The very future of our planet is at stake. Sir David Attenborough has asked whether we’re happy to suppose that future generations may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book.

It's over a year since scientists issued what has been referred to as a ‘final call’, in the most extensive warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures. Their dramatic report on keeping that rise under 1.5 degrees makes clear that the world is now completely off track, heading instead towards 3 degrees Centigrade. It’s a scary read – for us and, even more so, for the next generation and those who follow.

The book of Genesis insists that human beings, are stewards over God’s creation and God’s good earth. We’re not making a very good job of it, to put it mildly.

It’s easy to feel paralysed in the face of so great an impending disaster. But If we all do that, we sink. Much wiser to heed the Chinese proverb, “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”, and do what little we can. Collectively, we can make a difference.

Loving and gracious God, thank you for this beautiful world,
Your creation,
Rolled into a sphere,
Packaged in sunshine,
Gift-wrapped in love,
Given to us,
Thank you.
Give us grace to care for it, we pray.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000cp41)
Island Abattoir

The Isle of Mull abattoir is regarded locally as central to the viability of livestock farming and food production on the west coast of Scotland, enabling crofters, farmers and estates to keep food miles low, animal welfare high and meat production profitable. But tiny slaughter houses like Mull's are essential, they have to carry huge overheads, making it increasingly difficult for them to carry on. Nancy Nicolson has been to Mull to hear about the role the abattoir plays and farmers' fears for the future.

Presented and Produced by Nancy Nicolson


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03k7330)
Tawny Owl (Winter)

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

David Attenborough presents the Tawny Owl. Tawny owls are our most urban owls, often living close to the centre of towns and cities, so long as there are hollow trees or old buildings in which they can nest.


THU 06:00 Today (m000cl5t)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 Positive Thinking (m000cq7s)
Boomtown for Rats

Climate change has led to a rise in flooding. But it's not just about soggy sofas and insurance claims. The recent flooding in South Yorkshire has driven rats into homes, and rats, if unchecked, can lead to fire, damage to property and disease.

It's not just an environmental problem but a socio-economic one too. A reduction in waste collection and increase in fly tipping has led to a surge in infestations in council estates the length and breadth of Britain.

Rats and humans have lived side by side for millennia. Wherever we go, rats follow. But the fall-out can be devastating.

New Zealand is pioneering an ambitious - some say unrealistically utopian- plan to eradicate all mammal predators by 2050. As a starting point they have created Zealandia, a 225 hectare urban sanctuary to which many of New Zealand's endangered species have been relocated. Zealandia is a zone without rats, stoats and possums.

But it's just the beginning. Within three decades, if the plan succeeds, every rat on the island will be dead. Predator Free 2050 has been a rallying call for conservationists and citizens inspired by a future vision which draws on New Zealand's past. Until the 13th century New Zealand had no predator mammals.

But could it work here? If you've ever been overrun by rats, you might be hoping the answer is yes.

Presenter Krupa Padhy sits down with three speakers to solution proof the idea of a rat-free Britain.

Produced by Kate Bissell and Caitlin Smith
Research by Elizabeth Ann Duffy
Executive Producer is David Stenhouse


THU 09:30 Witness (m000d1ph)
The battle for the Woman in Gold

The "Woman in Gold" was one of Gustav Klimt's most famous paintings. It was a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer commissioned by her husband. But the masterpiece was taken from her family by the Nazis and only returned to her niece after a long legal battle. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Randol Schoenberg, the young lawyer who took on the case.


THU 09:45 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cxp2)
Episode 4

Clive James reads his autobiography. Against his intentions, enrolling at Sydney University and liking it.

Australian-born Clive James reads the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, exploring his life growing up from being an accident prone child actor who hated school, through to national service and a place at Sydney University.

Clive James - writer, broadcaster and poet - was known around the world for his dry wit. Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1962 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television. The show saw him introduce amusing and off-beat TV clips from around the world, most famously from Japanese game show Endurance.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life. He died on 24th November at his home in Cambridge, where he had attended university and where his funeral took place at Pembroke College. He was 80 years old.

Unreliable Memoirs was first published in 1980.
It was abridged and produced by Jane Marshall, and read by Clive James.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 2 first broadcast in 2001.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000cl60)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 Charlotte and Lillian (m0009cfh)
Series 2

The Rival

Charlotte (Helen Monks) and Lillian (Miriam Margolyes) are back, spending time together as part of a Befriend the Elderly scheme. They may bicker about everything from signs of dementia to the appeal of Harry Styles, but underneath it’s clear they are two kindred spirits. Two selfish, self-absorbed spirits, but ones who mirror and rely on each other nonetheless.

Very nearly 30, Charlotte is still living at home with her parents and chronically unable to figure out what to do with her life. Beneath her attempt at do-gooding is barely disguised despair. She's terrified she is no good. Useless. Unlovable. She looks to Lillian to provide some meaning to her life - if she can help to improve Lillian’s life somehow, she’d feel a lot better about her own. And there’s all the kudos and social media likes that come with charity work - not to mention the lure of Lillian's large spare room.

Lillian meanwhile is still her ebullient self, but her facade hides a nagging fear of what's to come - her body is giving up on her. Lillian's motto is still “Keep Buggering On” – aka keep getting at Charlotte – but increasingly, she’s forced to wonder why. She masks all this by doubling down and manipulating Charlotte into carrying out all her menial tasks. If Charlotte won’t do them, there are plenty of other volunteers who will.

Lillian leaves Charlotte an answerphone message telling her not to come round any more, but Charlotte doesn't take rejection lying down. She turns up at Lillian’s house unannounced, where things go from bad to worse when she discovers she has a rival for Lillian’s approval.

Charlotte: Helen Monks
Lillian: Miriam Margolyes
Written by: Kat Sommers and Holly Walsh
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000cl64)
Sierra Leone - The Price of Going Home

Fatmata, Jamilatu and Alimamy all see themselves as failures. They’re young Sierra Leoneans who risked everything for the sake of a better life in Europe. Along the way, they were imprisoned and enslaved. They saw friends die. Eventually, they gave up. Now, they’re home again - facing the devastating consequences of what they did to their families before they left, actions that have left them ostracised by their nearest and dearest. Who will help them to survive back home? Can they rebuild their lives, and achieve any reconciliation with their parents? And if they can’t, will they be tempted to set off again, to seek their fortunes abroad?

Produced and presented by Tim Whewell
Editor, Bridget Harney


THU 11:30 The End of the World Has Already Happened (m000cl66)
1: We're doomed!

Many feel that climate change will destroy the world’s economy, flood cities, cause mass migrations and even cause regional wars, but why is it so difficult for so many of us to engage with it?

In this three-part series Timothy Morton, dubbed ‘philosopher prophet of the Anthropocene’, rethinks our psychological relationship with the climate crisis, and our place in the biosphere.

Morton cuts an unusual figure, an English literature scholar teaching in a Texas university who spends almost as much time in art galleries and performances as he does writing. He draws on Heidegger and pet cats, William Blake and garden centres, psychoanalysis and collaborations with artists and musicians such as Olafur Eliasson and Bjørk.

Most environmental programmes start with a dramatic landscape or a plunge into the depths of the ocean. But we start in Tim’s driveway. If this climate crisis is a trauma, is there a way to reframe it? And what happens to our feelings when we do? ‘This is foetal-position time,’ he says, ‘but it’s on us: dolphins don’t have fingers to turn off the oil pipes.’ Feeling guilty and powerless is not the answer: ‘How come we conned ourselves into thinking that being ecological means we can’t have any fun anymore?’

With contributions from psychotherapist Caroline Hickman, journalist Amy Westervelt, and environmentalists George Monbiot and Hilton Kelley.

Produced by Chris Elcombe
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.

Featured music:
Anna Peaker - Realm of Perfume and Lights (Longform)
Alexandra Spence - Immaterial (Longform)
Dawn of Midi - Nix (Thirsty Ear)
John Tavener - Funeral Canticle (Harmonia Mundi)
Julia Reidy - Lament (Slip)
Siavash Amini - A Recollection of the Disappeared (Room40)
Tomoko Sauvage - Making of a Rainbow


THU 12:00 News Summary (m000cl7z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cl6c)
Episode 9

Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...

The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000cl6f)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


THU 12:57 Weather (m000cl6h)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m000cl6k)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


THU 13:45 Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? (m000b6sy)
Episode 4: Troubleshooting

Comedian and classicist Jon Harvey, who challenged Theresa May in the 2017 general election as Lord Buckethead, explores modern British democracy through an ancient Athenian lens. If the one thing we can all agree on is that our state is in a state, could the world’s original democrats could help us right the ship?

Democracy was born in ancient Athens and lasted for nearly 200 years. Not all Athenians were democrats - perhaps the most famously outspoken anti-democrat Socrates ended up sentenced to death, ironically by a vote of the people. But if an Athenian democrat time-travelled to 2019, what would he make of what's going on in Britain? Could he fix the chaos?

Written and presented by Jon Harvey
Produced by Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer: Dixi Stewart

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m000cl6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (m000cl6p)
Eight Point Nine Nine

What if doping were allowed in athletics? How much faster could we go? And at what cost?

A timely retelling of the Julian Mason scandal, one year on from the closure of Project Hermes, the controversial doping program that enabled Mason to run the 100m in under nine seconds. What drove the scientists at the heart of the project? What made the athletes sign up? And who was to blame when things went wrong?

A searing investigation into the risks and rewards of pushing the boundaries of sport science, from the award-winning partnership of James Fritz and Becky Ripley.


THU 15:00 Open Country (m000cl6r)
Skateboarding in the Woods

Ruth Sanderson discovers a skateboarding camp, deep in the Forest of Dean. Camp Hillcrest mixes urban pursuits with forest living, and Ruth visits when the residential camp is in full swing. Kids come to be fully immersed in everything about skating culture, all in the idyllic setting of the Gloucestershire woods. The owner, Tom Seaton, tells Ruth how he has discovered this combination of urban skate vibe mixed with forest school activities engages children who otherwise wouldn't be attracted to the countryside, and gives them a unique experience.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000cl6t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m000cl6w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000cl6y)
Taika Waititi

With Antonia Quirke.

Actor/director Taika Waititi talks about his World War II drama Jojo Rabbit and what it was like to direct a film dressed as Adolf Hitler.

In the finale of Pitch Battle, Lizzie Francke of the BFI and development consultant Rowan Woods decide which of the final three pitches is their absolute favourite. The battle is between a memoir of the Beat generation, a time slip love story, and a science fiction thriller in which Britain is waterlogged and populated by mutant dogs.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000cl70)
The hidden history in our DNA - Part 2 - Travel and Culture

Our genomes are more than just an instruction manual for our bodies. They are maps, diaries, history books and medical records of our and our ancestor's lives...if you know how to read them. In the second part of BBC Inside Science's special, series, Adam Rutherford, UCL geneticist Lucy van Dorp and other scientists discover how travel and even culture of our ancestors can be decoded in our DNA today.


THU 17:00 PM (m000cl72)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cl76)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Elephant in the Room (m000671w)
Episode 1

Sarah Millican hosts a new panel show using surveys to discover who is the most Average Jolene, and who is the most Maverick Matilda. This week's sparkling panel features Kathy Burke, Liz Carr, Desiree Burch and Tom Allen.

Surveys on subjects including childhood, daily rituals and favourite cheese are the basis for Sarah's questions to the panellists, discovering who is the closest to, and furthest from, the average. Surprising quirks, hilarious insights and unexpected anecdotes are revealed along the way.

The winner will be the most average. But joint winner will be the most different, the furthest from the norm.

A little bit like a dinner party, but one where you know all of the spoons.

A Chopsy production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m000cl78)
Kirsty speaks her mind and Phoebe’s feeling low.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m000cl7b)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mgtdv)
My Life with Flu

Episode 4

By Sarah Woods

A love story, about flu.

It's the year 2000 and Jill's lungs bear the scars of the bacterial pneumonia she suffered fourteen years ago. The doctor urges her to have the flu jab, but Jill has other things on her mind - her daughter Polly is preparing to leave for University, and Jill has the urge to phone an old friend.

My Life with Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In five episodes it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.

The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'. Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.

Jill.... Sharon Morgan
David.... William Hope
John.... Simon Armstrong
Polly.... Hannah Daniel
Doctor.... Alun Raglan
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production


THU 20:00 Middlesbrough, Money and Me (m0009ky9)
Steph McGovern returns to her home town of Middlesbrough to ask why we aren’t better equipped to deal with the practical maths that we need to work out phone contracts, energy tariffs and any number of other challenges thrown at us in everyday life. She argues that too much emphasis is put on abstract maths in the school curriculum, and visits a Teesside primary school that is bucking the trend by emphasising practical maths to see what difference it is making. Steph meets university maths lecturer Sven Ake Wegner and hears about his struggles with cucumbers and tax returns, as well as the crucial relationship between theoretical and applied maths. Finally Steph attends the finals of a young enterprise competition to talk with teams of schoolchildren learning about profit, loss and percentages through running their own businesses. Along the way Steph sets a series of puzzles to test the listener’s own ability to make the numbers add up.

Producer: Geoff Bird

ANSWERS:
1/ It's cheaper to pay off the card in equal amounts for 12 months than pay the transfer fee.
2/ Shorts were £5.25
3/ Less than £100.00


THU 20:30 In Business (m000cl7d)
Selling Britain

Whatever happens in British politics, Britain’s reputation has changed. So what does this mean for its business image as the country starts to seek more global markets? Chris Bowlby discovers what’s in store for ‘Brand Britain’ and who its champions might be – from luxury London to north east England. What’s the key to the reputation of British business? Will some brands prosper regardless of what happens in the country itself?

Producer: John Murphy


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000cl70)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 Positive Thinking (m000cq7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000cl7g)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000cl6c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 Relativity (b0952sv0)
Series 1

Episode 3

Richard Herring's brand new comedy about four generations of a family. Starring Alison Steadman, Phil Davies and Richard Herring.

Relativity is a witty and loving portrait of family life, with affectionate observation of inter generational misunderstanding, sibling sparring and the ties that bind, that will resonate with anyone who has ever argued with their dad about how to pronounce crisp brand names.

Episode 3
A Christmas visit to Doris in her care home is simultaneously poignant and hilarious, as Ken insists on firing mental maths questions at Doris to keep her brain cells in good working order, while Margaret struggles to get her mother simply to recognise her.

Written by Richard Herring and produced by Polly Thomas.
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Broadcast Assistants: Bella Lamplough Shields, Bryony Jarvis Taylor
Producer: Polly Thomas
Executive Producers: Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:30 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m000cbtb)
Deepfakes

Comedian star James Veitch enters the murky world of deepfakes.

James is concerned the BBC may not commission another series of his show.

He hits on an idea which might persuade BBC bosses: deepfake his producer.

Producer: Laurence Grissell



FRIDAY 03 JANUARY 2020

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000cl7j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cxp2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000cl7l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000cl7n)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000cl7q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000cl7s)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000cl7v)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

When my wife died five years ago it was devastating for me and my two children, then aged 9 and 13. Amidst the excruciating pain, what was almost unbearable to witness as the months went by was the way in which one of them ‘closed down’ and, however much love and affirmation given, spiralled down to despair. I was reminded the hard way that children can so easily blame themselves for the death of a loved one, even if they know at one level that it’s not at all their fault.

Jesus told us to love God and to love our neighbour as ourself. When people repeat that this summary of the law they very often leave out the third party – ourselves.

Love of self is crucial if we are to be healthy but sometimes, as for my child, it can seem impossible. So much of the almost epidemic proportions of mental health difficulties experienced by young people today is as a result of poor self-image and low self-esteem. It doesn’t need something as dramatic as the death of a loved one for that to set in. The causes are many but love is the only cure I know. Thankfully, my child is now turning the corner.

God’s love is the ultimate cure. I could never really understand being unconditionally loved until I had my own children and experienced such an enormously powerful love for them. I try to love myself because, eventually, I have come to believe that I might be lovable.

Loving and gracious God,
You have made us in your image and you love us.
Grant us the grace to love ourselves as you love us
And so find you peace.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000cl7x)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mztp0)
Mistle Thrush (Song)

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

David Attenborough presents the story of the Mistle Thrush. Mistle thrushes are early singers and you'll often hear one singing from the top of a tall tree in windy winter weather. Because of this habit, an old name for the thrush is 'storm cock'.


FRI 06:00 Today (m000clcc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Positive Thinking (m000cqd6)
Tackling Food Waste

Broadcaster and journalist Fi Glover and digital advisor Gemma Milne examine some of the UK’s biggest problems and consult a jury of end users to determine the best solution for all.

In this edition, the team are on the hunt for a radical solution to the UK’s problem of large scale supermarket food waste. Britain throws out over 10 million tonnes of food each year – which is more than enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall over 100 times.

Three advocates present their plans directly to our panel of consumers who rigorously interrogate them and ultimately decide on the solution they believe will have the greatest impact.

Under consideration are a proposal to remove “use by” and “sell by” dates on products in order to change consumer habits, food recycling through “no waste” shops on every high street and “gleaning” on farms, and an algorithmic tech solution that introduces dynamic pricing to the retailer’s shelves.

Fi and Gemma work with the panel to judge each solution, and together they have to reach a consensus on the best way forward.

Produced by Anishka Sharma and Sasha Edye-Lindner
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 09:30 Witness (m000c7fs)
El Salvador's stolen children

In 1994 investigators in El Salvador located the first of several hundred children who'd disappeared more than a decade earlier during the country's brutal civil war. There had been rumours that the children had been kidnapped by the army. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Elsy Dubon who was taken from her family as a child, and to the investigator who helped to find her.
Photo: Peasants who lost their children during military operations in the El Salvador civil war at a rally in March 2006 (YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)


FRI 09:45 Unreliable Memoirs (m000cxhc)
Episode 5

Clive James reads his autobiography. After a spell of national service, returning to university with a new outlook.

Australian-born Clive James reads the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, exploring his life growing up from being an accident prone child actor who hated school, through to national service and a place at Sydney University.

Clive James - writer, broadcaster and poet - was known around the world for his dry wit. Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1962 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming in such shows as Clive James On Television. The show saw him introduce amusing and off-beat TV clips from around the world, most famously from Japanese game show Endurance.

Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life. He died on 24th November at his home in Cambridge, where he had attended university and where his funeral took place at Pembroke College. He was 80 years old.

Unreliable Memoirs was first published in 1980.
It was abridged and produced by Jane Marshall, and read by Clive James.

A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 2 first broadcast in 2001.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000clch)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 Charlotte and Lillian (m0009qwd)
Series 2

The Patient

Charlotte (Helen Monks) and Lillian (Miriam Margolyes) are back, spending time together as part of a Befriend the Elderly scheme. They may bicker about everything from signs of dementia to the appeal of Harry Styles, but underneath it’s clear they are two kindred spirits. Two selfish, self-absorbed spirits, but ones who mirror and rely on each other nonetheless.

Very nearly 30, Charlotte is still living at home with her parents and chronically unable to figure out what to do with her life. Beneath her attempt at do-gooding is barely disguised despair. She's terrified she is no good. Useless. Unloveable. She looks to Lillian to provide some meaning to her life - if she can help to improve Lillian’s life somehow, she’d feel a lot better about her own. And there’s all the kudos and social media likes that come with charity work - not to mention the lure of Lillian's large spare room.

Lillian returns from a stay in hospital to find Charlotte’s taken over the house, and is being her usual irritating self. Lillian is keen to get rid of her, but there’s just one problem - she can no longer ignore the fact she is getting older and needs help around the house.

Guess who’s ready to step up to the plate.

Charlotte: Helen Monks
Lillian: Miriam Margolyes
Written by Kat Sommers and Holly Walsh
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:00 No Triumph, No Tragedy (m000clck)
Sophie Morgan

Peter White, who has been blind since birth, interviews Sophie Morgan, the artist, media commentator and disability activist who became a wheelchair user in 2003 after a car accident.

Sophie was only eighteen when she was left paralysed in a car accident: at the time she had been on the brink of starting her law degree, but following her injuries she decided to study art and concentrate on her drawings and oil paintings. She uses her public profile to challenge attitudes to disability and created the Mannequal: a wheelchair for a mannequin to be used in high street clothing stores. Her aim was to change perceptions of disability in the fashion and retail industries and there have been shifts in attitudes since.

Challenging expectations about what is possible also played a part in Sophie’s decision to appear in the BBC documentary, Beyond Boundaries, with eleven people with disabilities trekking across the Nicaraguan jungle. She tells Peter that it was during that journey that she really confronted the extent of her injuries, coming face to face with her disability and paralysis:

“It was when I realised that no matter what attitude I have, if my environment isn’t accessible, then I am utterly disabled. I was so gutted that I became sick and had to come home early.”

Sophie has various coping strategies aimed at maximising what she can do instead of focusing on her limitations: “The hardest thing is not being able to be the full and whole person that I am in my mind and in the mind of others. But the greatest thing is seeing the world from a unique position. It means that every day I am grateful for what I have. That can be a rare thing.”

Producer: Sue Mitchell


FRI 11:30 Maureen & Friends (m000clcm)
More Maureen & Friends

From Balkan windscreen washers to a cock-eyed look at the spirit of Christmas. More comic monologues, musings and anecdotes from the irrepressible Maureen Lipman.

Producer: David Hunter


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000clcp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 The Secret Commonwealth (m000clcr)
Episode 10

Simon Russell Beale reads the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy. A specially commissioned abridged reading for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...

The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

Reader, Simon Russell Beale
Writer, Philip Pullman
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer, Michael Shannon


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000clct)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m000clcw)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m000clcy)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


FRI 13:45 Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? (m000b80w)
Episode 5: Leading questions

Comedian and classicist Jon Harvey, who challenged Theresa May in the 2017 general election as Lord Buckethead, explores modern British democracy through an ancient Athenian lens. If the one thing we can all agree on is that our state is in a state, could the world’s original democrats could help us right the ship?

Democracy was born in ancient Athens and lasted for nearly 200 years. Not all Athenians were democrats - perhaps the most famously outspoken anti-democrat Socrates ended up sentenced to death, ironically by a vote of the people. But if an Athenian democrat time-travelled to 2019, what would he make of what's going on in Britain? Could he fix the chaos?

Written and presented by Jon Harvey
Produced by Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer: Dixi Stewart

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000cl78)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (m000cld0)
Enemies of the System

Three political advisors are shocked to discover the Chinese are seeking their advice.

Late at night in a first class lounge at Heathrow, Hector bumps into Danny. Both are annoyed as they have been forced to wear ties, which they usually refuse to do as an act of sartorial rebellion, to enter the lounge. The two Englishmen know each other, as they have served as Chief of Staff to rival British Party leaders. As they chat, it emerges that both are flying to Beijing.

While having a free aromatherapy massage, they meet Benedict, a former Chief Advisor to the American President, also furious at having to wear a tie. HECTOR and DANNY know BENEDICT, as he served as Chief Advisor to an American President. He too is flying to Beijing. They realise they have all been summoned by the Chinese government to advise on how to deal with the protests in Hong Kong.

In Beijing, it emerges that all three are great admirers of Mao - particularly his doctrine of permanent revolution. For these disruptors of government, he is “Chairman Now, Chairman Wow.” The men also seem pretty much to share the view, now old-fashioned in China, that Capitalism is entering its final crisis.

Next morning, the three political consultants meet the Director of Transition, the Chinese official responsible for enacting the doctrine of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong. As they debate various approaches to the Hong Kong problem, the Director is surprised by the radicalism of the western political experts’ attitudes to “taking back control”, and such concepts as unelected officials, parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, the sanctity of international treaties, the freedom of the press, the future of capitalism, and what should be done to “enemies of the system”.

To the Chinese, the three westerners seem to be dangerous revolutionaries. To Hector, Danny and Benedict, their hosts are cautious stalwarts of conventional establishment thinking. Which ideology will win?

Taking no sides, the drama explores the curious ironies of the rise of English Maoists and Chinese capitalists.

Cast:
HECK (HECTOR) Paul Rhys
DANNY Julian Wadham
BENEDICT Matt Rippy
RUBY Macy Nyman
MAI-LING Michelle Yim
YU HAIGWANG David K S Tse

Written by Mark Lawson
Director: Eoin O’Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000cld2)
Nottinghamshire

Kathy Clugston and the team are in Nottinghamshire. James Wong, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew answer the audience's questions.

This week, the panellists discuss new year's resolutions and guilty gardening habits. They also answer questions on a Summer Clematis and spotting wireworm, and come up with suggestions for a small gardening space with a tropical theme.

Aside from the questions, Peter Gibbs examines the use of peat in the horticultural industry.

Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Mothmageddon (m000bzxn)
The rise of moths eating people's clothes and carpets has been well documented. Recently, English Heritage found that infestation levels were "alarmingly high" in southern England. But the insects are spreading further afield. And they can be very difficult to get rid of.

Presenter Felicity Evans - who is also BBC Wales' Political Editor - has some living under her floorboards. Having tried everything from obsessive vacuuming to getting holes drilled in her floor and insecticide powder sprayed, she is now turning to an unusual new method of control.

A commercial treatment originally for warehouses and theatres, she has installed a product designed to spread sexual confusion and interfere with the mating process. As a human who went through her own bout of sexual confusion in her teens, she is hoping to be immune to the effect of the pheromones, but can they stop the moths?

As these voracious pests continue to gain ground around the country Felicity asks if there's any sure way to prevent Mothmageddon.

Contributors:
David Slade, County Recorder for Glamorgan
Teleri Glyn-Jones
Dr. Christian Baars, National Museum of Wales
Phil Meek, Titan Pest Control

Producer: Llinos Jones
A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000cld4)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.


FRI 16:30 A Good Read (m0000mk2)
Nikesh Shukla and Leone Ross

Harriett Gilbert discusses favourite books with the writers Nikesh Shukla and Leone Ross. Nikesh's choice is Amateur; a real-life account of testing one’s masculinity in the boxing ring by Thomas Page McBee. Leone's is Cane, the largely forgotten African-American classic by Jean Toomer and Harriett's is a divisive modern classic, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

Producer: Eliza Lomas


FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m000cld7)
Richard and Saeed - Breaking barriers and growing communities

Friends talk about their unlikely friendship and their love of working in the community. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


FRI 17:00 PM (m000cld9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000cldc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000cldf)
Series 101

Best of 2019

Nish Kumar starts the year with a look back at the best bits of News Quiz in 2019.

A review of a busy year of hypothetical ferry companies, not dying in ditches and some musical chairs in the News Quiz hot seat too.

Written by Catherine Brinkworth

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m000cldj)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting

Writer, Caroline Harrington
Director, Jessica Bunch
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Toby Fairbrother ….. Rhys Bevan
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Gavin ….. Gareth Pierce


FRI 19:15 Front Row (m000cldl)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04mhd56)
My Life with Flu

Episode 5

A love story, about flu.

It's October 2014 and Jill is now 71. When she runs into an old familiar face at the chemists, she has one last shot at happiness. But the flu has other ideas.

Written by Sarah Woods, My Life With Flu has been produced in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

In this omnibus of five episodes, it follows the story of Jill across five decades as she struggles with the highs and lows of life, love and viruses. At the same time the story tracks the life of Hong Kong Flu – how, over 45 years, it has traversed the globe, evolved and is ultimately being superseded by new, more virulent strains, such as Swine Flu.

The series uses cutting edge science – of transmission, viral evolution and genetic predisposition – to tell the story of flu, and investigate the unique qualities of Jill's genome which make her a 'severe responder'.

Paul Kellam, Virus Genomics team leader at the Sanger Institute worked closely with writer Sarah Woods to weave the science seamlessly into the story. The drama underlines the deep connection human beings have to the viruses that survive through us, and how illness can shape the course of our lives.

Jill.... Sharon Morgan
David.... William Hope
John.... Simon Armstrong
Polly.... Hannah Daniel
Doctor.... John Norton
Narrator.... Eiry Thomas

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production first broadcast in 2014.


FRI 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000b5jc)
Build the Wall!

On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katy Long asks why political leaders are celebrating the occasion while building new border walls of their own.

From the United States, where 'build the wall' has become a symbol of the Trump presidency, to Norway, India and South Africa, dozens of walls have gone up since 1989, with many more being built, planned or imagined. In this programme, Katy tells the modern history of border walls to ask why they are being built, and why now, when new virtual technologies increasingly offer alternatives to concrete barriers.

Katy will examine the complicated history of the Berlin Wall, and what it meant during the Cold War. She'll examine border walls and border communities in Northern Ireland, the United States, South Africa and Israel, exploring what happens when walls are built - for good and ill - and whether it's possible to take them down again. She'll look at the difference between walls to keep people in, and keep them out, and whether the walls are really about safety, or certainty, or just about 'us' and 'them'.

Producer: Giles Edwards
Assistant Producer: Patrick Cowling


FRI 21:00 Intrigue (m000cldq)
The Ratline (Part 2)

Philippe Sands investigates the mysterious disappearance of senior Nazi Otto Wachter in a story of love, denial and a curious death. in this second omnibus episode he hears about how Otto fell upon hard times in Rome in 1949, only to find work in the most unlikely of settings. Philippe talks to his friend and neighbour John le Carre, who was an intelligence agent in Austria about the time about the possibility that intelligence agencies might have been trying to recruit Otto, or to assassinate him. And he discovers what might have been the reason for Otto's strange and untimely death, which left his body charred black.
Producer: Gemma Newby
Sound: Neil Churchill
Research: James Everest and Lea Main-Klingst
Theme music by Seckou Keita and Catrin Finch
Actors: Stephen Fry and Laura Linney


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000clds)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Secret Commonwealth (m000clcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000cldv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:25 James Veitch's Contractual Obligation (m000cks1)
Episode 6: Off Grid

Comedian James Veitch tries to start a new life, off grid.

Producer: Laurence Grissell


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m000cldx)
Jay and Mark - It's still as difficult as it was the first time

Friends talk about the difficulties of to trying work out whether someone is gay. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.




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 19:45 MON (b04mb5z2)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 TUE (b04mcmng)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 WED (b04md4nk)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 THU (b04mgtdv)

15 Minute Drama 19:45 FRI (b04mhd56)

A Bright Yellow Light 17:00 SUN (m000cmsf)

A Good Read 16:30 FRI (m0000mk2)

A Guide to Disagreeing Better 20:00 TUE (m000cn12)

A Point of View 08:48 SUN (m000cn1y)

A Run in the Park 19:45 SUN (m000cncj)

A Small Matter of Hope 20:00 MON (m000cn4w)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (m000cpx6)

Archive on 4 20:00 FRI (m000b5jc)

BBC Inside Science 16:30 THU (m000cl70)

BBC Inside Science 21:00 THU (m000cl70)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (m000cncy)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (m000cncy)

Beyond Belief 16:30 MON (m000cn4d)

Book at Bedtime 21:45 SAT (b08n2wt2)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (m000cnbl)

Bunk Bed 23:15 WED (b062kx53)

Charlotte and Lillian 10:45 MON (b095g3xb)

Charlotte and Lillian 10:45 TUE (b096j4m6)

Charlotte and Lillian 10:41 WED (m00094k1)

Charlotte and Lillian 10:45 THU (m0009cfh)

Charlotte and Lillian 10:45 FRI (m0009qwd)

Correspondents' Look Ahead 13:10 SAT (m000cn1t)

Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? 13:45 MON (m000b4qp)

Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? 13:45 TUE (m000b5ks)

Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? 13:45 WED (m000b4wy)

Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? 13:45 THU (m000b6sy)

Could an Ancient Athenian Fix Britain? 13:45 FRI (m000b80w)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (m000cn4y)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (m000cl64)

Dads and the Delivery Room 21:00 MON (m000cmrd)

Dead Ringers 12:30 SAT (m000cmxr)

Desert Island Discs 11:15 SUN (m000b809)

Drama 14:30 SAT (m000cpwq)

Drama 14:15 MON (b09gkcsm)

Drama 14:15 THU (m000cl6p)

Drama 14:15 FRI (m000cld0)

Elephant in the Room 18:30 THU (m000671w)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (m000cpw6)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (m000cndb)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (m000cn5j)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (m000cn29)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (m000cp41)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (m000cl7x)

Feedback 20:00 SUN (m000cn0s)

Feeding the Problem 11:00 SAT (m000cnhc)

Fidget on Four 11:00 TUE (m000cmyz)

Four Seasons 23:30 SAT (m000clpp)

Four Thought 05:45 SAT (m000cl4s)

Four Thought 09:30 WED (m000clfc)

Four Thought 20:45 WED (m000clfc)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (m000cpwg)

Front Row 19:15 MON (m000cn4t)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (m000cn0y)

Front Row 19:15 WED (m000cp2r)

Front Row 19:15 THU (m000cl7b)

Front Row 19:15 FRI (m000cldl)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (m000cn0f)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (m000cld2)

Ghost Stories from Ambridge 18:15 MON (m000cn4n)

Ghost Stories from Ambridge 18:15 TUE (m000cn0h)

Ghost Stories from Ambridge 18:15 WED (m000cp2l)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (m000cldv)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (m000cldv)

Have You Heard George's Podcast? 23:00 MON (p07vscp9)

Have You Heard George's Podcast? 21:00 TUE (m0009z3m)

In Business 21:30 SUN (m000cncp)

In Business 20:30 THU (m000cl7d)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (m000cn16)

Intrigue 21:00 FRI (m000cldq)

James Veitch's Contractual Obligation 23:30 SUN (m0003cg6)

James Veitch's Contractual Obligation 23:30 MON (m0003km8)

James Veitch's Contractual Obligation 23:30 WED (m000c2v1)

James Veitch's Contractual Obligation 23:30 THU (m000cbtb)

James Veitch's Contractual Obligation 23:25 FRI (m000cks1)

Jeeves - Live! 11:30 WED (m000cqgz)

Josie Long's Gambit 13:30 SUN (m000cnby)

Josie Long's Gambit 21:00 WED (m000cnby)

Last Christmas 00:30 SAT (m000cn2h)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (m000cn0n)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (m000cld4)

Living Memory 00:15 SAT (m0005t92)

Living Memory 00:15 SUN (m0005t4j)

Living Memory 00:15 TUE (m0005t6z)

Living Memory 00:15 WED (m0005tpr)

Living World 06:35 SUN (m000cnb4)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (m000cn3r)

Loose Ends 11:30 MON (m000cn3r)

Loose Ends 23:00 TUE (m000cn1d)

Making History 15:30 TUE (m000cn00)

Maureen & Friends 11:30 FRI (m000clcm)

Meeting Myself Coming Back 22:00 SAT (b00thcn8)

Middlesbrough, Money and Me 20:00 THU (m0009ky9)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (m000cn2f)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (m000cpx8)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (m000cncw)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (m000cn52)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (m000cn1j)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (m000cp38)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (m000cl7j)

Money Box 12:04 SAT (m000cncm)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (m000cncm)

Mothmageddon 15:45 FRI (m000bzxn)

Mr Pye 15:00 SUN (m000cnc2)

My Brilliant Life 23:00 WED (m000cp34)

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics 16:00 MON (m000cn4b)

Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra 15:00 WED (m000cp2b)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (m000cn2r)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (m000cpxj)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (m000cnd6)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (m000cn5d)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (m000cn21)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (m000cp3s)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (m000cl7s)

News Headlines 06:00 SUN (m000cnb2)

News Review of the Year 22:00 SUN (m000cncr)

News Summary 12:00 SAT (m000cpwj)

News Summary 12:00 SUN (m000cnbq)

News Summary 12:00 MON (m000cp0q)

News Summary 12:00 TUE (m000cmz3)

News Summary 12:00 WED (m000cp1y)

News Summary 12:00 THU (m000cl7z)

News Summary 12:00 FRI (m000clcp)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (m000cpw4)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (m000cnb8)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (m000cnbg)

News 13:00 SAT (m000cpwn)

No Triumph, No Tragedy 11:00 FRI (m000clck)

North By Northamptonshire 14:15 TUE (b06sny99)

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats 14:15 WED (m000cp28)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (m000cl6w)

Open Book 15:30 THU (m000cl6w)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (m000cngx)

Open Country 15:00 THU (m000cl6r)

PM 17:00 SAT (m000cpwv)

PM 17:00 MON (m000cn4g)

PM 17:00 TUE (m000cn06)

PM 17:00 WED (m000cp2g)

PM 17:00 THU (m000cl72)

PM 17:00 FRI (m000cld9)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (m000cncg)

Pick of the Year 22:00 TUE (m000cl3k)

Positive Thinking 09:00 MON (m000cpzr)

Positive Thinking 21:30 MON (m000cpzr)

Positive Thinking 09:00 TUE (m000cq0c)

Positive Thinking 09:00 WED (m000cqbw)

Positive Thinking 21:30 WED (m000cqbw)

Positive Thinking 09:00 THU (m000cq7s)

Positive Thinking 21:30 THU (m000cq7s)

Positive Thinking 09:00 FRI (m000cqd6)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (m000cn2t)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (m000cnd8)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (m000cn5g)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (m000cn25)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (m000cp3x)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (m000cl7v)

Profile 19:00 SAT (m000cnc6)

Profile 05:45 SUN (m000cnc6)

Profile 17:40 SUN (m000cnc6)

Quote... Unquote 23:00 SAT (m000ckvr)

Quote... Unquote 15:00 MON (m000cn46)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:54 SUN (m000cl6t)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:25 SUN (m000cl6t)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (m000cl6t)

Relativity 23:00 THU (b0952sv0)

Rewinder 00:15 MON (m0005mnq)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (m000cpwd)

Saturday Review 19:15 SAT (m000cpx4)

Sebastian Baczkiewicz - Pilgrim 21:00 SAT (b019dq7y)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (m000cn2m)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (m000cpxd)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (m000cnd2)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (m000cn58)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (m000cn1s)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (m000cp3h)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (m000cl7n)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (m000cn2k)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (m000cn2p)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (m000cpwx)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (m000cpxb)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (m000cpxg)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (m000cnc8)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (m000cnd0)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (m000cnd4)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (m000cn56)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (m000cn5b)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (m000cn1n)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (m000cn1x)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (m000cp3d)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (m000cp3n)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (m000cl7l)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (m000cl7q)

Short Works 00:30 SUN (m000cn0j)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (m000cpx1)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (m000cncd)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (m000cn4l)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (m000cn0b)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (m000cp2j)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (m000cl76)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (m000cldc)

So Many Books, So Little Time 14:00 SAT (m000bp3s)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b07cmlx3)

Soul Music 16:00 TUE (b085trlz)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (m000cnbj)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (m000cnbb)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (m000cnbn)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (m000cn44)

The Archers 14:00 MON (m000cn44)

The Archers 19:00 MON (m000cmzs)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (m000cmzs)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (m000cn0t)

The Archers 14:00 WED (m000cn0t)

The Archers 19:00 WED (m000cl6m)

The Archers 14:00 THU (m000cl6m)

The Archers 19:00 THU (m000cl78)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (m000cl78)

The Archers 19:00 FRI (m000cldj)

The Casebook of Max and Ivan 18:30 TUE (m000cn0p)

The End of the World Has Already Happened 11:30 THU (m000cl66)

The Film Programme 23:00 SUN (m000cnct)

The Film Programme 16:00 THU (m000cl6y)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (m000cn48)

The Food Programme 15:30 MON (m000cn48)

The Inquiry 17:30 SAT (m000d3n2)

The Kitchen Cabinet 10:30 SAT (m000cmzw)

The Kitchen Cabinet 15:00 TUE (m000cmzw)

The Listening Project 14:45 SUN (m000cnc0)

The Listening Project 10:55 WED (m000cp1w)

The Listening Project 16:55 FRI (m000cld7)

The Listening Project 23:55 FRI (m000cldx)

The Media Show 16:30 WED (m000cp2d)

The Missing Hancocks 18:30 WED (m000cp2n)

The News Quiz 18:30 FRI (m000cldf)

The Quietest New Year on Earth 16:00 WED (b055jy1k)

The Secret Commonwealth 12:04 MON (m000cn3w)

The Secret Commonwealth 22:45 MON (m000cn3w)

The Secret Commonwealth 12:04 TUE (m000cmz7)

The Secret Commonwealth 22:45 TUE (m000cmz7)

The Secret Commonwealth 12:04 WED (m000cp20)

The Secret Commonwealth 22:45 WED (m000cp20)

The Secret Commonwealth 12:04 THU (m000cl6c)

The Secret Commonwealth 22:45 THU (m000cl6c)

The Secret Commonwealth 12:04 FRI (m000clcr)

The Secret Commonwealth 22:45 FRI (m000clcr)

The Spark 20:00 WED (m000cp2w)

The Tim Vine Chat Show 12:04 SUN (m000cms9)

The Unbelievable Truth 18:30 MON (m000cn4q)

The Untold 11:00 MON (m000cy76)

The Voice of Joe Grundy 19:15 SUN (m000cpv7)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (m000cnbw)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (m000cn50)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (m000cp30)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (m000cl7g)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (m000clds)

There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin 11:30 TUE (m0001rzj)

Today 07:00 SAT (m000cpwb)

Today 06:00 MON (m000cn3h)

Today 06:00 TUE (m000cmym)

Today 06:00 WED (m000cp1p)

Today 06:00 THU (m000cl5t)

Today 06:00 FRI (m000clcc)

Tweet of the Day 08:58 SUN (b09jvsps)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 MON (b09jvxhk)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 TUE (b09k0nw2)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 WED (b03mg1dc)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 THU (b03k7330)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 FRI (b03mztp0)

Unreliable Memoirs 09:45 MON (m000cv9l)

Unreliable Memoirs 00:30 TUE (m000cv9l)

Unreliable Memoirs 09:45 TUE (m000cw5n)

Unreliable Memoirs 00:30 WED (m000cw5n)

Unreliable Memoirs 09:45 WED (m000cx9z)

Unreliable Memoirs 00:30 THU (m000cx9z)

Unreliable Memoirs 09:45 THU (m000cxp2)

Unreliable Memoirs 00:30 FRI (m000cxp2)

Unreliable Memoirs 09:45 FRI (m000cxhc)

Weather 06:57 SAT (m000cpw8)

Weather 12:57 SAT (m000cpwl)

Weather 17:57 SAT (m000cpwz)

Weather 06:57 SUN (m000cnb6)

Weather 07:57 SUN (m000cnbd)

Weather 12:57 SUN (m000cnbt)

Weather 17:57 SUN (m000cncb)

Weather 05:56 MON (m000cndd)

Weather 12:57 MON (m000cn40)

Weather 12:57 TUE (m000cmzh)

Weather 12:57 WED (m000cp24)

Weather 12:57 THU (m000cl6h)

Weather 12:57 FRI (m000clcw)

Where Words Fail, Music Speaks 15:30 SAT (m0009s36)

Who Will Call Me Beloved? 11:00 WED (m000b4r1)

Wild Music 16:30 SUN (m000cnc4)

Witness 09:30 MON (m000d1qj)

Witness 09:30 TUE (m000d1qn)

Witness 09:30 THU (m000d1ph)

Witness 09:30 FRI (m000c7fs)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (m000cpws)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (m000cn3m)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (m000cmyw)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (m000cp1t)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (m000cl60)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (m000clch)

World at One 13:00 MON (m000cn42)

World at One 13:00 TUE (m000cmzm)

World at One 13:00 WED (m000cp26)

World at One 13:00 THU (m000cl6k)

World at One 13:00 FRI (m000clcy)

You and Yours 12:18 MON (m000cn3y)

You and Yours 12:18 TUE (m000cmzc)

You and Yours 12:18 WED (m000cp22)

You and Yours 12:18 THU (m000cl6f)

You and Yours 12:18 FRI (m000clct)