SATURDAY 07 DECEMBER 2024

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0025ldm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street by Annie Gray (m0025l9z)
Episode Five

Acclaimed historian Annie Gray takes us on an immersive journey down the high street through the ages, from the medieval marketplace to the first department stores. Peeking inside the windows of china merchants, chophouses, gin palaces and confectioners, Annie reflects on how people shopped and lived in days gone by.

Episode Five
Post war clothes shopping and the rise of the department store.

Annie Gray is a historian, cook, broadcaster and writer specialising in the history of food and dining in Britain from around 1600 to the present. She features regularly on The Kitchen Cabinet. Her other books include The Greedy Queen and Victory in the Kitchen.

Writer: Annie Gray
Reader: Hugh Dennis
Abridger: Karen Rose
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025ldp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025ldr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025ldt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0025ldw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025ldy)
Lessons on leadership

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. The Italian city of Milan is celebrated for many things. It’s host to various fashion houses, two football teams, the Last Supper and La Scala Opera House. It also has a magnificent Cathedral, a photo of which adorns the Advent calendar we have at home, with its windows opening up onto different works of art for each day of Advent. And as it happens, in the Church lectionary for this month, today is the feast day of St Ambrose, the 4th century Bishop of Milan. Ambrose was a scholar & theologian who insisted on the importance of Christ’s divinity at a time when there was much debate about how Jesus could be both fully human and divine. At the same time, as Bishop of Milan he was also a courageous statesman willing to rebuke even the Emperor Theodosius when he considered the Emperor to be persecuting his theological opponents too savagely following their dispute. And he was also a persuasive preacher and writer of hymns, with a gift for making the Christian faith attractive and believable to his congregations.

It was this gift which would have a profound influence on a young man called Augustine, who, inspired by Ambrose, would go on to become one of the greatest Christian theologians in a time of crisis and change across the Roman Empire. We live in a very different age to them, but at a time when the Western Church finds itself facing very similar challenges both from secular trends and from its own frailties, perhaps it is just St. Ambrose’s model of scholarly, statesmanlike and saintly leadership which we need to learn from now.

Heavenly Father,
In St. Ambrose you offer us a model of Christian faith which both serves the Church and speaks to the wider world; help us in our spiritual journey to be guided by his sage and spiritual advice, and to be led into the truth of your Kingdom.
Amen.


SAT 05:45 Something to Declare (m0025lb9)
How to Nurture Community

Jack Boswell explores the South African philosophy of Ubuntu, a profound perspective on humanity that emphasises the interconnectedness of all people and the transformative power of community.

Joining Jack is Reverend Nontombi Naomi Tutu, a South African-born priest and daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She explains how Ubuntu - the belief that "I am because we are" - is rooted in recognizing our shared humanity. Nontombi reflects on how this philosophy shaped her father’s work as a key figure in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, grounding his fight for justice in compassion and dignity for all, even his oppressors. She shares practical ways to embody Ubuntu in daily life, from acknowledging others with a simple greeting to cultivating gratitude for small acts of kindness.

Also joining Jack is Refiloe Moahloli, a South African children’s author whose book We Are One introduces Ubuntu to a global audience. Refiloe explains how this philosophy celebrates diversity and encourages individuals to embrace their unique gifts while contributing to the greater good. She reflects on the ripple effect of self-respect and kindness, likening it to a single flower blooming and inspiring growth in its surroundings.

This episode unpacks how Ubuntu invites us to rethink our relationships, not just with others but with ourselves. It’s a reminder that by recognising our own worth, we can foster deeper connections and help create a more compassionate world. Jack learns how this ancient African philosophy continues to resonate across cultures, offering lessons on healing, resilience, and hope in an increasingly divided world.

Host: Jack Boswell
Producer: Emma Crampton
Senior Producer: Harry Stott
Executive Producer: Sandra Ferrari
Production Coordinator: James Cox
Audio Supervisor: Tom Biddle
Sound Editor: Alan Leer

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0025sqr)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m0025l2d)
Richard Mabey

Richard Mabey has been described as the godfather of British nature writing. Over the last half-century, he has written more than thirty books. His first, 'Food for Free', was published in 1972 and has never been out of print since; the most recent, 'The Accidental Garden', came out earlier this year. Martha Kearney joins Richard and his partner Polly on their beloved boat on the Norfolk Broads. She hears about Richard's childhood in the Chilterns and finds out how he first became fascinated by the natural world. Together they spot grebes, terns, and even see a bittern in flight.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0025sqt)
Agriculture accounts for around 12% of greenhouse gases in the UK, according to DEFRA and there is much work across the industry to cut that figure.

Arla, the farmer run dairy cooperative plans to reduce its emissions by 30% per kilo of milk by 2030.

The company has just started trials using a dietary supplement called Bovaer which is added to a cow’s feed to reduce methane emissions. The trial involves around 30 farmers and 3 supermarkets who buy their milk.

But despite the feed supplement getting the thumbs up from UK and European food safety bodies, there’s been a social media storm of protest, some people calling for the boycott of Arla products because they do not think it should be used, including posting videos of themselves on social media pouring milk away. A scientist and industry expert give their views.

A number of tenant farmers in East Yorkshire say they could be facing eviction to make way for a large solar farm.

Dairy farmers say it is hard to find workers and growers use seasonal migrant workers to pick fruit and veg. The lack of people joining the fishing industry means some older skippers are now giving up early as they can't find a crew, meanwhile one farming apprentice is realising his dream.

And Charlotte speaks to the winner of the BBC Food and Farming award in the "Farming for the Future" category.

Presented by Charlotte Smith

Produced by Alun Beach


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0025sqw)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0025sqy)
07/12/24 - Nick Robinson and Simon Jack

News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0025sr0)
Derren Brown, Abigail Tinnion, Rob Parsons, Mackenzie Crook

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m002404w)
Series 1

10. Night Walkers

Wake up! It’s time for a dreamy new episode of Curious Cases all about the science of sleepwalking.

Listener Abigail has done some strange things in her sleep, from taking all the pictures off the wall, to searching for Turkish language courses. And she wants to know: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

It turns out Abigail is not alone. Hannah and Dara hear weird and wonderful stories of extreme sleepwalkers - from the lady who went on midnight motorbike excursions, to the artist who does all his best work while asleep. They delve into the neuroscience to find out how you can remain in deep sleep while walking, talking or even peeing in your mum's shopping basket. They learn about some cutting edge research where the participants were sleep deprived and then half-woken with scary sounds, and they zero in on the key triggers, from a boozy night out to a squeaky bed.

Contributors
Professor Russell Foster: University of Oxford.
Professor Guy Leschziner: King’s College London and Guys’ and St Thomas’ hospital
Lee Hadwin: the sleep artist
Professor Francesca Siclari: The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Producer: Ilan Goodman
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0025sr3)
Series 46

Postbag

Jay Rayner and his panel of chefs, cooks and food writers dig through the Kitchen Cabinet inbox to answer your culinary conundrums.

In this postbag edition of the programme, food experts Shelina Permalloo, Melek Erdal, James ‘Jocky’ Petrie and Dr Annie Gray tackle the use of pea shoots as garnish and share their perfect chutney recipes.
 
They get into the nitty gritty of deveining prawns and take stances on the perfect cheesecake recipe, and the best way to cook broccoli.
 
And if you’ve ever considered purchasing a blow torch for Christmas, Jocky provides a prime example of how not to use it.

Senior Producer: Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0025sr5)
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0025sr7)
Sudan and the story of Mama Nour

Kate Adie presents stories from Sudan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Ireland.

Lyse Doucet recently gained rare access to Sudan, where she met the remarkable Mama Nour. A steely woman, orphaned in childhood, she now provides refuge for other women and children amid Sudan's ongoing civil war, which the UN has called 'the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world'.

South Korea's president sent shockwaves across the world when he declared martial law earlier this week. Jake Kwon describes the moment the president made his announcement, and the swift, decisive response from both politicians and the South Korean people to stop him in his tracks.

China's Xinjiang province is home to a huge tomato industry, which has been linked to forced labour - an allegation China denies. Still, many Uyghurs and ethnic Kazakhs have fled Xinjiang into neighbouring Kazakhstan, where Runako Celina met one woman who revealed the realitles of life in the region.

In South Africa, there’s an on-going stand-off between authorities and illegal workers living down an abandoned gold mine, southwest of Johannesburg. Security forces briefly stopped food and water from being sent down the mine, before a court ruled against them. Nomsa Maseko recalls her first time entering this hidden world.

Ireland’s elections last weekend did not prove to be a political game-changer unlike other polls this year. Michael Martin will return as Taoiseach for the second time, but scratch the surface and there’s an underlying anti-establishment sentiment, says Chris Page.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0025sr9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0025src)
Charity Bank Accounts and Attendance Allowance

Around 9 out of 10 charities have told a new report they've had at least one issue with banking in the past two years. The Charity Finance Group and National Council for Voluntary Organisations spoke to almost 2,000 charities in the UK and found more than three quarters had struggled to change the named signatories on their bank account and 4 in 10 said that the checks they were asked to complete weren't designed for voluntary organisations. We'll speak to one of the authors of that report and get reaction from UK Finance, which represents banks.

What were the key announcements in the Scottish Budget? We'll discuss income tax thresholds and a promise to lift the two-child benefit cap.

If you're a pensioner missing the Winter Fuel Payment this year - what other help could you get if you're struggling? We'll look at Attendance Allowance - who's eligible and how you can apply.

And, what's the best advice to make sure you're not inadvertently insuring the same thing twice?

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Emma Smith and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 7th December 2024)


SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m0025lc9)
Series 1

Episode 2: Spin, Milestones, and Monopoly (Qatar edition)

Host Andrew Hunter Murray, Chief Correspondent Amy Hoggart, The Skewer's Jon Holmes and The Naked Week team deliver a topical news-nude straight to your ears. This week - Spin, Milestones, and Monopoly (Qatar edition).

The Naked Week team will strip away the curtain and dive into not only the big stories, but also the way in which the news is packaged and presented.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Sarah Dempster
Gareth Ceredig
Jason Hazeley
Adam Macqueen
Louis Mian

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0025srf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m0025srh)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0025lcx)
Seamus Logan MP, Douglas Lumsden MSP, Michael Marra MSP and Laura Webster

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Daviot Village Hall in Aberdeenshire, with the SNP's MP for Aberdeenshire North & Moray East, Seamus Logan; Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for energy and net zero, Douglas Lumsden MSP; Michael Marra MSP, Scottish Labour's shadow cabinet secretary for finance; and the editor of The National, Laura Webster.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Sean Mullervy


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0025srk)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0025lch)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
David Archer…. Timothy Bentick
Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer…. Felicity Finch
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Azra Malik…. Yasmin Wilde
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0025srm)
Berlin Alexanderplatz

Episode 3

A dramatization by Simon Scardifield from Michael Hofmann's landmark translation of Alfred Döblin's modernist masterpiece set on the streets of Berlin - a novel that exploded into 1929 and changed urban writing forever.

Bruised and battered from his run-in with the ruthless Berlin underworld, Franz is offered another shot at redemption when he comes under the protective influence of two friends from his past.

Narrator ..... Claes Bang
Franz ..... Lee Ross
Reinhold ….. David Hounslow
Eva ….. Clare Corbett
Herbert ….. Mark Edel Hunt
Pums ..... Neil McCaul
Mitzi ….. Hannah Genesius
Oskar ….. Ryan Whittle
Mack ..... Samuel James
Schnapps ..... Jasmine Hyde
Beer ….. Michael Begley
Willi ..... Justice Ritchie
The Neighbour..... Grace Cooper Milton
Keyboard ..... Chris Jack
Alice ..... Christine Kavanagh

Produced by Emma Harding and Marc Beeby
Directed by David Hunter and Gemma Jenkins


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0025srp)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Keira Knightley and Sarah Lancashire, Sutara Gayle, Uterine fibroids, Surviving grief, Josie Lloyd

Powerhouse actors Keira Knightley and Sarah Lancashire are starring alongside Ben Wishaw in new Netflix spy drama Black Doves. It follows the story of a female spy seeking revenge for the murder of her lover – whilst outwardly being married to a high-ranking politician. Keira and Sarah spoke to Nuala McGovern about the drama, their careers and their experiences as women in the film industry.

Sutara Gayle is an actor and reggae artist. She fuses music with memories of her eventful life in a new show: The Legends of Them. From hearing her radio debut whilst in Holloway Prison on remand, to the Brixton uprisings in 1985 that were sparked by the shooting of her sister, the show explores a hugely varied and at times deeply moving portrayal of her life, and the women who have shaped it. Sutara joined Anita Rani in the studio.

Professor Nicola Rollock is best known for her academic research and writing on race and society. As a friend of the programme, she approached us to ask to talk about something more personal - her experience of uterine fibroids, something that affects around 70% of women, but this rises to 80% for black women. Nicola joined Nuala alongside Hilary Critchley, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, to discuss more.

After the actor Anna Maxwell Martin spoke on the programme about the grief she experienced after her husband died suddenly in 2021, we were inundated with listeners sharing their stories. Two of them, Giselle De Hasse and Heather Ashley, joined Anita to talk about how they manage their grief day to day.

Author Josie Lloyd joined Nuala to discuss her new novel featuring fictional Alice Beeton, the prim and organised owner of The Good Household Management Agency and distant relative of the real-life Victorian cookery and household writer Mrs Beeton. Alice and her ancestor share a love of recipes and an eye for detail, which comes in handy when Alice becomes involved in a cosy, Christmassy crime in Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Louise Corley


SAT 17:00 PM (m0025srr)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m0025srt)
The Nick Clegg One

Nick Robinson speaks to Sir Nick Clegg about life as Mark Zuckerberg's right hand man at Meta and the transition from Westminster to Silicon Valley.

He responds to challenges on regulation of social media companies and issues a warning about the political power of Elon Musk.

Producer: Daniel Kraemer


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0025srw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0025sry)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025ss0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0025ss2)
Jenny Eclair; Idlewild's Roddy Woomble; Lou Sanders; Nikki Amuka-Bird; Ferdia Lennon; Clive Anderson

Loose Ends this week is a masterclass in the many ways human beings find to laugh: the writer and comic Jenny Eclair started her career as a punk performance poet, who created her stage name to chime with the band she joined - Cathy le Creme and the Rumbabas. But as we learn in her new memoir, she knew as a small child called Jenny Hargreaves that she had the "funny bones" required to make her a comedy star. There is little about Ferdia Lennon's debut novel Glorious Exploits that might suggest comedy - its set in 412 BC Sicily, in the years after Athens’ failed invasion and tells the story of two locals who get Athenian prisoners of war to stage a production of the play Medea. Yet this book's just won an award for comic writing. Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Bafta-winning actor and her new movie Rumours features a constellation of Hollywood stars. But this comedy-horror-satire features her alongside Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance prat-falling as world leaders at a summit. And stand-up Lou Sanders is about to go on the road with a show called No Kissing In The Bingo Hall, but she's taken diversions via Dancing on Ice and Taskmaster and will be trying not to laugh in series one of Last One Laughing UK next year.
With music by Roddy Woomble of Idlewild.

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Olive Clancy


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0025ss4)
Tom Molnar

From using a skateboard to baking sourdough, Tom Molnar leads an eclectic life.

Born in the United States, he earned a degree in Ecology at Dartmouth College, before going on to gain experience in corporate strategy and client management. It was during those years, that he noticed a gap in the market for quality bread.

Tom Molnar joined forces with Ran Avidan and Gail Mejia in 2005, and their Gail’s story began in a small corner of North London. Nearly 20 years later, the chain has become omnipresent on high streets all over the country and looks set to yield a handsome sum amid speculation that its owners have appointed a Wall Street bank to oversee an auction.

Stephen Smith takes a closer look at the visionary behind one of Britain’s fastest-growing chains.

Production team

Producers: Ben Cooper and Natalie Ktena
Editor: Ben Mundy
Sound: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0025dvs)
Series 31

The Science of Baby Making

Brian Cox and Robin Ince investigate the science of baby making - don’t worry, all theory no practice! They are joined by Professor Joyce Harper, Dr Ben Steventon and comedian Sara Pascoe to discuss how just two cells can turn into trillions, or in other words, how an embryo can turn into an embryologist. The embryo building processes across species are remarkably similar, yet there is still so much we don’t know about the beginning of life. Our panel discuss these unknowns, the latest in fertility treatments and what new capabilities might be available to future parents. It seems that artificial wombs may not be science fiction for much longer and scientists are closing in on being able to make egg and sperm cells out of stem cells. So yes, Brian and Robin could one day have a baby!

Producer: Melanie Brown
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Researcher: Olivia Jani

BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b09r37tz)
A Brief History of Cunning

How cunning is Donald Trump?

In Queenan on Cunning, the satirist Joe Queenan explores a word rarely associated with the current President of the USA.

"From Odysseus to Bismarck, via Brer Rabbit and Machiavelli's The Prince, there's a fine tradition of tricksters and hucksters, but where does the Donald fit in the mix?
You need patience, intelligence, forward planning - some of these are Trump-like qualities. Stress on the some. But he's by no means a modern day Odysseus. Not much of a sailor."

With contributions from Adam MacQueen, author of The Lies of the Land; Edith Hall, who wrote a cultural history of Homer's Odyssey; and Tibor Fischer, whose forthcoming novel is called How to Rule the World.

Plus John Sergeant, Kathy Lette, Richard Nixon, Alistair McAlpine, Laura Barton ... and a campaigning American president cross-faded with a much loved song from The Jungle Book.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m0025kzr)
Who and what is 'toxic'?

The allegations about Gregg Wallace’s behaviour on set have been described as being part of a "toxic environment". Once primarily used in the domain of plants, arrows and chemicals, “toxic” - which is defined as “poisonous” – only relatively recently started being applied to workplaces and people: parents, siblings, neighbours, exes and co-workers.

Those who have experienced a toxic work culture or colleague might describe a deterioration in their personal and professional well-being – the causes of which may be difficult to define – or prove – on their own. While sexual harassment, racism, and bullying should be clearly understood, a toxic environment may involve more subtle things at play: a lack of trust, favouritism, unrealistic expectations or an atmosphere of negativity.

But what are we to make of a concept which hinges on how an aggrieved person feels rather than the defined behaviour of the perpetrator? Is it an important redress for those who have for too long suffered in silence – or an over-compensation which irredeemably labels the wrongdoers? What should – and shouldn’t – we be prepared to accept in a workplace or in a relationship? If a boss sets a negative tone in an office, due to their own pressures and stresses, does that make them “toxic”? When does an off-colour joke become “toxic”? Is it possible to detoxify cultures like the entertainment industry, which thrives on the egos of the “talent”? And when is it OK to cut off a “toxic” relative?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Sonia Sodha, Konstantin Kisin, Matthew Taylor and Anne McElvoy
Witnesses: Ben Askins, Joanna Williams, Becca Bland and Donald Robertson.

Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant producer: Ruth Purser
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SAT 22:00 News (m0025ss8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0025l9x)
BBC Food and Farming Awards 2024

Join Sheila Dillon at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow for the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2024.

The awards honour those who have done most to promote the cause of good food and drink. Our judging panel this year is chaired by chef and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SAT 23:00 Wing It (m0025ssb)
Series 1

The Cow Who Flew Through The Moon

"No Script. No Prep. No Clue."

Alasdair Beckett-King plays host to a panel of improv comedy all stars in this new spontaneous series, full of ridiculous challenges & completely made up games.

Presented by Alasdair Beckett-King.

Starring Cariad Lloyd, Steen Raskopoulos, Alexander Jeremy, and Emma Sidi.

Devised by Shoot From The Hip

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Joe Bayley

A BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 23:30 Brain of Britain (m0025m73)
Semi-final 2, 2024

(14/17)
In the second of the 2024 semi-finals, the competitors will be asked about Scottish football, American stand-up comedy, the Olympics, chemistry, surrealist painters, and classic rock albums of 1984... among many other things. Russell Davies puts the questions to four semi-finalists, each of them hoping their wide general knowledge will be enough to win them a place in the Final.

Today's competitors are:
Jack Bennett, from Lancaster
Alan Gibbs, from St Helens in Lancashire
Helen Lippell, from east London
Hannah Reilly, from Glasgow.

All of them have either won their heats or been notably high-scoring runners-up, so the competition for points is sure to be fierce.

Brain of Britain is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 08 DECEMBER 2024

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0025ssg)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m0025m71)
Alan Warner: Morvern Callar

Award-winning writer Alan Warner takes questions from Radio 4's Bookclub audience about his first-person, pacey novel, Morvern Callar, which was written in 1995 when Warner was in his late twenties. Morvern is a twenty-one year old foster-child whose life takes an irreversible turn when she discovers her boyfriend's dead body. The book was later turned into a critically-acclaimed film, of the same name, in 2002.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025ssj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025ssl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025ssn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0025ssq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0025sss)
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris

Bells on Sunday comes from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris which formally re-opens this weekend following its restoration after the disastrous fire of April 2019.
That fire destroyed most of the ancient wooden roof, the collapse of its iconic central wooden spire as well as the loss of six bells. Spreading along the roof the fire also reached the woodwork in the North tower containing eight bells installed to mark the 850th anniversary of the Cathedral. Fortunately, although damaged, both the tower and its bells were saved from destruction and have been restored. The heaviest bell in the North Tower weights eighty one hundredweight and is in the note of A.
We hear now the bells of Notre-Dame.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m0025l5j)
Disability Minister: Sir Stephen Timms

Sir Stephen Timms is the new Labour government's Minister for Social Security and Disability. He answers your questions about issues such as benefits, access to medical information, digital accessibility legislation and more.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0025v93)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m0025l51)
Religious Freedom

Giles Fraser meets Stephen Schneck, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, to explore the impact of globalisation on religious freedom.

Restrictions on religious freedom are increasing. What impact has the spread of religious traditions had on freedom of belief? How does the secularisation of religion contribute? Should states be forced to adopt norms of religious rights and freedoms to meet international pressure? And what can be done about the perceived threat communities feel when they are exposed to other religions?

To discuss Giles is joined by HRH Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the UK, Dr Nazila Ghanea, an Iranian-born Professor in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford and UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, an exiled Nicaraguan politician and economist.

Producer: Alexa Good
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editors: Chloe Walker


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0025v95)
Regenerating Ben

When Ben Taylor-Davies's toddler son Jobe was kicked in the head by a horse in 2012, it changed the whole family's life forever. After weeks in intensive care with only a slim chance of survival, Jobe was left permanently brain-damaged. For Ben, it led to a breakdown and the feeling that he couldn't carry on in farming. Discovering a different way to manage the land through regenerative farming eventually rekindled his love of agriculture, and brought both him and the farm business back from the brink. Now, together with his wife Helen and two teenaged daughters Tegan and Erin, Ben runs a whole host of different enterprises on the land. Once entirely arable, it's now a mixed farm, with sheep, horses, a vineyard, a wedding venue, a shoot, a glamping site, and an assortment of livestock, including rare breeds, alpacas and even rheas. In this programme Charlotte Smith visits the farm near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire to meet Ben and the rest of the family. She discovers that the events of the last twelve years have regenerated not only the soil, but also Ben himself.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0025v97)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0025v99)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0025v9c)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0025v9f)
Able Child

Presenter and Paralympian Ade Adepitan makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Able Child.

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 ‘Able Child'.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Able Child'.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 326859. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.ablechild.org.uk
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0025v9h)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0025v9k)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0025v9m)
Carols for the Christ Child : ‘Fel yr Wyt’ / ‘As you are’ – the Welsh Plygain Carol Tradition

On this Second Sunday in Advent, Sunday Worship comes from St Garmon’s Church, nestled in the Ceiriog Valley in the North-East of Wales. Priest, composer and musician Rev. Dr Cass Meurig, and Welsh poet and musician Gwyneth Glyn explore the sound, poetry and spirituality of the unique Welsh Plygain carol tradition. Unlike many familiar carols, the texts of Plygain carols speak not only of the birth of Jesus, but of the whole Christian story. Our service today explores how we are all invited to be part of that story, as we bear witness to the Christ Child.

We hear a feast of archive recordings, as well live performances at St Garmon’s by Arfon Gwilym, Sioned Webb and Siân James, individuals for whom the Plygain tradition forms an important part of their lives. They also share some of the history of this unique tradition, as well as personal memories of attending the Plygain services across the years.

Readings:
Isaiah 9:6-7
Luke 2:8-15

Archive recordings:
Ar gyfer heddiw’r bore (FOR THIS VERY MORNING)
Ar fore dydd Nadolig (ON CHRISTMAS MORNING)
Roedd yn y wlad honno (IN THAT REGION THERE WERE SHEPHERDS)
Carol y Swper (THE SUPPER CAROL)
Live performances:
Carol Huw Morus (HUW MORUS’ CAROL)
Teg Wawriodd Boreddydd (THE FAIR DAY DAWNED)


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0025ld4)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0025v9p)
Iolo Williams on the Merlin

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories from some fresh voices who have been inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

For Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams the male merlin is a beautiful missile of a bird. Once it locks onto its prey, there is no escape. Iolo's love of this bird heads back to a spring evening as he watched a skylark dance and pirouette to avoid the merlin's attack, a bird of prey no bigger than a song thrush. The conclusion of this chase was lost in the moorland, but that encounter ignited a lifelong love affair with our smallest and rarest falcon.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio, Bristol
Studio engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0025v9r)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0025v9t)
Ebony Rainford-Brent, former England cricketer

Former cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009. Today she is a broadcaster and cricket commentator for Channel 4, Sky Sports and the BBC’s Test Match Special.

Ebony was born in south London and as a child it was football that caught her attention, especially Liverpool FC and her hero Robbie Fowler. At primary school she was encouraged to have a go at cricket through a charity called Cricket For Change which was set up to encourage more state school children into the sport. Holding a bat in her hands for the first time, she hit the ball as hard as she could and, as she watched it soar through the air, she was hooked.

Ebony started out playing for Surrey Cricket Club’s Under 11’s team as a bowler. In 2003 a serious back injury forced her to stop playing and she thought her sporting career was over. She was determined to prove the medics wrong so she retrained as a batswoman as batting was easier on her back.

In 2007 she made her debut for England and two years later was part of the World Cup-winning team. In 2020 Ebony joined forces with Surrey Cricket Club and founded the African-Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE) to build grassroots cricket programmes for young people in black communities across the UK. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE for her services to cricket and charity.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0025v9w)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
David Archer…. Timothy Bentick
Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer…. Felicity Finch
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Azra Malik…. Yasmin Wilde
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0025ss4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m0025kl0)
Series 3

Merthyr - home of Welsh heroes

Paul Sinha tests his audience in Methyr Tydfil on their knowledge of Wales's 100 Greatest Heroes, which manages to completely overlook some Welsh icons and place some less well-remembered names alarmingly high.

Before that, though, there are questions about the events of 2024, and a section on national anthems. And, of course, the audience get to test Paul on his general knowledge.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material: Oliver Levy
Additional questions: The Audience

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Steve Martin
Mixed by: Rich Evans
Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0025v9y)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0025vb0)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Missing Pieces: The Lesbian Mothers Scandal (m0025vb2)
From the 1970s through to even the early 1990s, a shocking pattern existed where the UK courts removed children from lesbian mums.

Journalist Sophie Wilkinson investigates the legacy of homophobic UK courts on lesbian mothers and meets those still dealing with the trauma of having their families ripped apart.

She meets Linda Bellos, who was only able to see her kids once a month after a family court judge found out she was a lesbian, and a woman in her 70s who had to pretend not to be gay in order to maintain custody of her children.

While the practice largely stopped after the passage of the Children Act in 1989, those affected have never received any redress or apology, and the full scale of the scandal has never been exposed.

Presenter and Producer: Sophie Wilkinson
Producer: Emily Uchida Finch
Assistant Producer: Daniel Pearce
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
Additional research: Gareth Lemon and Kate Litman

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0025lbd)
Rosewell: Plant Names, Reflection and Perlite

What would the panel plant in a garden for reflection? Are there any alternatives to perlite and vermiculite? Is the weather to blame for my shamefully small brassicas and tiny potatoes?

Kathy Clugston and a team of experts are in Rosewell, Midlothian, to solve the gardening questions of the audience. Joining Kathy are ethnobotanist James Wong, garden designer Neil Porteous and Head of Gardens at Balmoral Kirsty Wilson.

Later in the programme, James Wong meets researchers Dr Hannah Atkins and Sadie Barber to discuss the extensive process of naming plants.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0025vb4)
The Girl of the Sea of Cortez

John Yorke looks at Peter Benchley’s environmentally themed novel The Girl of the Sea of Cortez.

Peter Benchley is best known for his debut novel Jaws which become a huge global bestseller when it was published in 1974 and was further seared into the public consciousness by Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation the following year. His next two novels – The Deep and The Island – were also thrillers set at sea.

However, Benchley’s attitude to the oceans and the creatures that live in them underwent a transformation in this period due to the diving trips he’d started going on. He became acutely aware of the fragility of marine environments and how human activity was endangering them. When The Girl of the Sea of Cortez was published in 1982, it was a significant departure from his previous work, clearly informed by his growing environmental awareness.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.

Contributor:
Anita Sullivan, playwright who has adapted The Girl of the Sea of Cortez for Radio 4

Readings from The Girl of the Sea of Cortez by Peter Benchley (Ballantine Books, 2013)
Peter Benchley interview from the archives of the LBJ Presidential Library, University of Texas at Austin

Reader: Torquil MacLeod
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0025vb6)
The Girl of the Sea of Cortez

A coming-of age ecological fable from the author of Jaws. A Mexican girl fights family and tradition to protect the marine habitat she loves.

Teenage Paloma lost her father, Juanjo, in a sea-storm. Her mother, Miranda, is afraid she’ll lose the girl to the sea too. But Juanjo taught Paloma to free dive and showed her a secret seamount none of the fishermen know about - a pillar of volcanic rock rising from the deep ocean, a teeming tower-block of habitats.

Paloma’s brother, José, wants to make quick money, leave for the city and become a mechanic. The seamount could be his ticket to a new life, and he’ll stop at nothing to get his way.

Anita Sullivan has written over 30 radio dramas and is a winner of the prestigious Tinniswood Award. Her other award-winning adaptations include An Angel at My Table and Shadowbahn.

By Peter Benchley
Adapted for radio by Anita Sullivan

Paloma ..... Jamila Hache
Miranda ….. Raquel Cassidy
José ..... Óscar Camacho
Juanjo ..... Armando Rey
Azul ….. Carlos Alfredo Jr.
Manolo ..... Braulio Hernández

Other characters are played by Sergia Sánchez and Alejandra Gollas

Sound design by Adam Woodhams

Directed and produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m0025vb8)
Tessa Hadley

Presenter James Crawford takes a deep dive into the latest work by critically-acclaimed writer Tessa Hadley and learns more about her creative process by exploring its connections to three other literary works. Tessa's new novella The Party started out life as a short story for the New Yorker magazine but was later expanded. Her three influential choices are: Alice Munro's short story collection Open Secrets; Elizabeth Bowen's The Death Of The Heart and Colm Toibin's Brooklyn.


SUN 16:30 Brain of Britain (m0025vbb)
Semi-final 3, 2024

(15/17)
With just two of the places in the 2024 Final still to be decided, another four competitors take their seats on the Radio Theatre stage in London for the third of this year's semi-finals. Russell Davies asks the questions, covering all fields of general knowledge from sport and music to mythology and languages.

Appearing today are:
Anthony Fish from Pontypool
Andrew Fisher from Sheffield
Vicky Johnson from Nottingham
Shanine Salmon from Croydon.

There'll also be a chance for a listener to Beat the Brains, with fiendish questions he or she has suggested.

Brain of Britain is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yms)
Haile Selassie in Bath

In 1936, Haile Selassie came to Bath in the west of England to escape Mussolini and the fascists who had invaded Ethiopia.

He bought a property – Fairfield House - and moved his entire family and staff there. He quickly became the talk of the town.

The local paper ran daily updates on the Emperor’s schedule and dispelled rumours such as the Emperor’s beard "having turned white with anguish" or that he was keeping lions in the basement.

Haile Selassie also made a point of indulging in local amusements and even took a trip to the Tropicana outdoor swimming pool in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.

Selassie returned to Ethiopia in 1940 after the British helped remove Mussolini. He never forgot his time in Bath and renamed one of his palaces Fairfield in tribute to the British city.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Haile Selassie during his coronation. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 County Lines (m0025kk4)
Episode 2: Cycles

This highly personal series investigates how criminal networks systematically exploit vulnerable young people, transforming them from ordinary schoolchildren into drug dealers through manipulation, violence, and trauma. An estimated 50,000 children in Britain have been groomed into county lines drug trafficking, yet their stories remain largely hidden.

In this powerful second episode, we investigate what keeps young people returning to county lines, even after interventions.

Through intimate stories told from prison cells and family homes, survivors challenge our assumptions about victims and perpetrators, revealing how trauma and shame create cycles that prove devastating to break.

As both journalist and sister to someone caught in these cycles, Phoebe McIndoe weaves her own story of silence and stigma with those of young people trapped between prison and exploitation.

Presented by Phoebe McIndoe
Produced by Redzi Bernard and Phoebe McIndoe
With original music by Phoebe McIndoe
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0025vbg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0025vbj)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025vbl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0025vbn)
Luke Wright

Secrets lives, double agents, and shattered mustard spoons - mysteries abound in this week’s show. Luke Wright finds the hidden and inscrutable parts of our lives brought to light in the past week of Radio - from the words of a woman risking her life to just to attend a Zumba class in Afghanistan, to comedian Mark Steel’s poignant reflections on his relationship with his father, and the challenges of creativity and overthinking. The journey concludes with a breathtaking celebration of Notre Dame’s reopening, crowned by music that’s nothing short of divine.

Presenter: Luke Wright
Producer: Elizabeth Ann Duffy
Production Co-ordinator: Jack Ferrie

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0025vbq)
One resident faces a blast from the past, and will Mick’s debut go according to plan?


SUN 19:15 The Documentary (w3ct7hsy)
Ready to Transmit

Stephen Coates travels to Tunisia to meet contestants in the International Morse Code championships in Tunisia. For a week, they'll face each other off tapping at tiny Morse machines so fast that it sounds almost like a sung language.

The Belarusians are the team to beat. But the Romanians are hot on their heels. And you never know what the Albanians might pull off at the last minute. Or the competitor who's just arrived from Tokyo.

It's a polyglot community. "Yet we all speak the same language," says the organiser Ashraf Chaabane.

Morse was the first instant communication technology. It changed the world almost 200 years ago. Its words are composed of just dots, dashes and spaces, transmitted in electrical pulses of sound or light. It can travel by vibration, touch and even be knitted. Anyone can learn it in just a few weeks.

In the age of cell phones and instant messaging, Morse still has a magic.

Producer: Monica Whitlock

A Storyscape production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001r7xq)
Breathe Through Your Nose

Take a nice deep breath in… through your nose. It’s a simple way to get healthier gums, a better memory, and improved lung function. How? Well, it may partly be due to a special molecule called nitric oxide. Michael Mosley speaks to Professor Jon Lundberg from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who made the fascinating discovery that nitric oxide is produced in your nose and travels to your lungs where it has some surprising benefits, including boosting oxygen uptake and possibly helping you fight off infections. Our volunteer Joe tries out a few tips to make nasal breathing a habit.

New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB

Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0025l2j)
The Archers scam week. The End of Short Cuts. The Naked Week

A raft of scam-themed programming went out across BBC channels last week, with the aim of raising awareness about the hoaxes often found hidden in plain sight. Long running drama The Archers fulfilled the brief wholeheartedly as visitors to Ambridge found themselves hoodwinked into buying fake holiday lets online, with unpleasant consequences. But did listeners think it was believable?

Short Cuts, Radio 4's experimental programme showcasing short documentaries is being taken off the airwaves after the end of the current series. There's been an outcry from the audio production community as it is how many programme makers get their Radio 4 debut. Andrea talks to Talia Augustidis, one of the audio makers behind a petition pushing back on the changes, and Charlotte Petts, a listener and freelance audio producer.

The Naked Week, the new Friday evening comedy, has been launched, and presenter Andrew Hunter Murray joked about Feedback listeners getting in touch about the programme's debut. That's exactly what they did, and here's what they said.

Finally, veteran broadcaster Mishal Husain announced that she will be leaving the Today Programme this month. Listeners contacted us to wish Mishal well, after almost 25 years at the BBC.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0025lbq)
Vicky Stone, Penny Chuter, Clifton Wharton Junior, Peter Sinfield

Matthew Bannister on

Vicky Stone, the film maker who travelled to the remotest parts of Africa to make her award winning wildlife documentaries.

Penny Chuter the medal winning rower who became coach of the GB team.

Clifton Wharton Junior, the first black chancellor of a primarily white US university, the first African American to run a Fortune 500 company and the first to become Deputy Secretary of State.

Peter Sinfield who wrote lyrics for King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Leo Sayer, Bucks Fizz and Celine Dion.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive: Art in the Board Room: Honoring the Wharton Legacy, Dr. Judith Stoddart, MSU Research, 1971; How America's Involvement In The Vietnam War Led To Protests | Our History, Our History, ITV, 1991; The Queen of Trees OFFICIAL, Narrated by Ian Holm, Deeble & Stone, Uploaded to Youtube, 3.05.2014; THE ELEPHANT QUEEN Official Trailer HD (2019) Documentary, Apple TV+ | Future Movies Starring : Chiwetel Ejiofor Directed By : Mark Deeble, Victoria Stone, Uploaded to Youtube 11.10.2019; Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble on The Elephant Queen, Apple TV+'s documentary feat Chiwetel Ejiofor The Upcoming. Interviewer: Ezelle Alblas Editor: Filippo L'Astorina, uploaded to Youtube, 11.11.2019; Wildlife on Two : Devilfish, BBC 1, 06.10.1991; Rowing Chat with Penny Chuter, Rowing Chat, 8.10.2017; Don't Call Me Shirley - Airplane! (9/10) Movie CLIP (1980); THE GREAT MATCH 1979:TERRY GRIFFITHS WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPION 23.04.2004


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0025src)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0025v9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0025sr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0025vbv)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m0025l1q)
Nizami Ganjavi

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the greatest romantic poets in Persian literature. Nizami Ganjavi (c1141–1209) is was born in the city of Ganja in what is now Azerbaijan and his popularity soon spread throughout the Persian-speaking lands and beyond. Nizami is best known for his Khamsa, a set of five epic poems that contains a famous retelling of the tragic love story of King Khosrow II (c570-628) and the Christian princess Shirin (unknown-628) and the legend of Layla and Majnun. Not only did he write romances: his poetry also displays a dazzling knowledge of philosophy, astronomy, botany and the life of Alexander the Great.

With

Christine van Ruymbeke
Professor of Persian Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge

Narguess Farzad
Senior Lecturer in Persian Studies at SOAS, University of London

And

Dominic Parviz Brookshaw
Professor of Persian Literature and Iranian Culture at the University of Oxford

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Laurence Binyon, The Poems of Nizami (The Studio Limited, 1928)

Barbara Brend, Treasures of Herat: Two Manuscripts of the Khamsah of Nizami in the British Library (Gingko, 2020)

Barbara Brend, The Emperor Akbar’s Khamsa of Nizami (British Library, 1995)

J-C. Burgel and C. van Ruymbeke, A Key to the Treasure of the Hakim: Artistic and Humanistic Aspects of Nizami Ganjavi’s Khamsa (Leiden University Press, 2011)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. P.J. Chelkowski), Mirror of the Invisible World: Tales from the Khamseh of Nizami (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. Dick Davis), Layli and Majnun (Penguin Books, 2021)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. Rudolf Gelpke), The Story of Layla and Majnun (first published 1966: Omega Publications, 1997)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. Rudolf Gelpke), The Story of the Seven Princesses (Bruno Cassirer Ltd, 1976)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. Julie Scott Meisami, The Haft Paykar: A Medieval Persian Romance (Oxford University Press, 1995)

Nizami Ganjavi (trans. Colin Turner), Layla and Majnun (Blake Publishing, 1997)

Dominic Parviz Brookshaw, Hafiz and His Contemporaries: Poetry, Performance and Patronage in Fourteenth-Century Iran (Bloomsbury, 2019)

Julie Scott Meisami, Medieval Persian Court Poetry (Princeton University Press, 2014)

Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Layli and Majnun: Love, Madness and Mystic Longing in Nizami’s Epic Romance (Brill, 2003)

Kamran Talattof, Jerome W. Clinton, and K. Allin Luther, The Poetry of Nizami Ganjavi: Knowledge, Love, and Rhetoric (Palgrave, 2000)

C. van Ruymbeke, Science and Poetry in Medieval Persia: The Botany of Nizami's Khamsa (Cambridge University Press, 2007)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m0025c05)
Paul by Francesca Reece

Cleo's mother is 84. And she's just told her daughter that she's got engaged to the man who came to fix the porch. As Cleo rushes to work out what's going on, she'll encounter a scam that's harder to unravel than she thought...
A witty and moving short story by award-winning writer Francesca Reece, read by Aimee-Ffion Edwards.

MONDAY 09 DECEMBER 2024

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0025vbx)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m0025l5l)
France: trouble on the vine

Low harvests, economic and climate batterings, changing tastes - is French wine in crisis? The French wine harvest has dropped 18% in one year. For some famous French wine-making regions the reduction has been much more. A combination of factors, including climate, finances and changing drinking habits has brought some wine-makers to the brink. Thousands of hectares of vineyards are being pulled up. Others are struggling to survive. For Crossing Continents John Murphy travels to Bordeaux and Languedoc - the world’s biggest wine-making region - to find out what is going on with wine, France’s most symbolic of products.

Producer: Alex Last
Studio Mix: Rod Farquhar
Programme Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series Editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0025sss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025vbz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025vc1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025vc3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0025vc5)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025vc7)
Coltrane’s ‘Love Supreme’

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. I confess to being something of a jazz fan. I have two saxophones at home and have been known to play them on occasions in Church. One of my favourite musicians is the great American saxophonist John Coltrane and it was on this day some 60 years ago, that he recorded his best-known and most influential album, ‘A love supreme’. It’s a striking piece, a Jazz suite in 4 parts which is explicitly spiritual in concept, evidenced in the titles of each section, Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, Psalm. In the sleeve notes, Coltrane, acknowledges the spiritual origins of his piece.

He recalls how in the year 1957, ‘I experienced by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life’ and gave him the grace to make people happy though his music. It’s that grace and praise which he offers, together with his fellow musicians, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, in ‘A love supreme’, recorded in just one afternoon in December 1964. Coltrane would go on to record other explicitly spiritual albums in the short time before his early death in July 1967, but it is ‘A love supreme’ which really made a connection with the wider world, and for which he is best remembered. He was not the kind of musician to make a Christmas record, but ‘A love supreme’ is richly aware of the presence of God with us. So perhaps we can conclude this reflection with the prayer which Coltrane himself offered.

‘May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain – it is with God – in all ways and forever. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.’
Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0025vc9)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


MON 05:57 Weather (m0025vcc)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0025vp8)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0025vpb)
Security threats and future prospects for Britain and the EU

Sir Alex Younger is the former head of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service. He assesses the evolving security risks facing Britain in the 21st century, and how the country continues to build strategic partnerships and intelligence agreements in a fracturing world. Younger ran MI6 during President Trump’s first administration and reflects on prospects for ‘the special relationship’ in the second.

With tensions between the US and China, increased economic protectionism and the war in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, the Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House, Armida van Rij, believes European security and economic prospects appear fragile. And this comes at a time of political polarisation throughout the continent.

After Britain finally left the EU in 2020 following the Brexit vote it was feared that it would be Britain that was isolated and vulnerable. Not so, claims the journalist Ross Clark, in his forthcoming polemic, Far From Eutopia: Why Europe is failing - and how Britain could do better (published 23rd January 2025). Clark pinpoints the absence of economic growth and huge disillusionment about high migration throughout Europe, and how Britain is surpassing many of its former continental partners. But questions still remain about how Britain will fare – on its own – on the global stage.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Dementia: Unexpected Stories of the Mind (m001kx98)
Dave

Neurologist Jules Montague and William Miller explore cases of rare dementias to reveal dementia is not what we think it is.

Dr Jules Montague is a dementia specialist, and William has personal experience of its impact having cared for his father, theatre director Jonathan Miller, who died of Alzheimer’s in 2019. Together they explore the science behind the symptoms and the poignant and extraordinary ways in which families navigate their lives as a result of these conditions.

In this episode, they meet Dave and his wife Gill. In 2020 Dave was diagnosed with Dementia with Lewy Bodies - or DLB. This dementia is commonly misdiagnosed at first because of its unusual symptoms. Hallucinations are a typical feature of this condition and cause Dave to see rabbits and cats in his living room, even though he knows they aren’t there.

Details of organisations offering information and support with dementia are available at the BBC Action Line here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1Y8B7y39T07GnTlMsLPJG2S/information-and-support-dementia

Producer: Eve Streeter
Original music: A Brief Encounter by Max Walter
A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0025vpd)
Is the UK a miserable place to raise a family, Bette & Joan, Lisa O’Neill

Journalist Rhiannon Picton-Jones says you couldn’t pay her to have another child in the UK – because she believes it’s a ‘cruel and unfriendly’ country. Is she right? What are we doing wrong? Rhiannon joins Nuala in the studio to discuss along with comedian Esther Manito.

The rivalry between silver-screen icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford is the stuff of legend, a decades-long battle sparked by both professional and personal resentments. Now the story is being told in a re-boot of the play Bette & Joan, now showing at the Park Theatre in London. Greta Scaachi, who plays Bette, and Felicity Dean, who plays Joan, join Nuala to tell us more about the pair’s infamous relationship.

Lisa O’Neill is an internationally renowned singer-songwriter who has built a reputation internationally for her unique folk sound and powerful song writing. Lisa joins Nuala to speak about the women who have inspired her, why she puts messages of social justice in her music, and to perform live in the studio.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lottie Garton


MON 11:00 County Lines (m0025vpg)
Episode 3: Hope

This highly personal series investigates how criminal networks systematically exploit vulnerable young people, transforming them from ordinary schoolchildren into drug dealers through manipulation, violence, and trauma. An estimated 50,000 children in Britain have been groomed into county lines drug trafficking, yet their stories remain largely hidden.

Phoebe McIndoe is both journalist and sister to someone caught in county lines and, in this final episode, she widens the lens to understand how austerity and social breakdown created fertile ground for county lines to flourish. From youth club closures to a crumbling care system, she considers how the loss of community safety nets left children vulnerable to exploitation.

Through conversations with activists and those leading innovative solutions, she asks what must change to break this cycle of exploitation and rebuild the protective networks our children need.

Presented by Phoebe McIndoe
Produced by Phoebe McIndoe and Redzi Bernard
With original music by Phoebe McIndoe
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:45 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vpj)
Episode 1. A Poisoning

Alexei Navalny was the fearless political figure who was an outspoken critic of the ruling regime in his beloved Russia. After three years in prison he died in a brutal Siberian penal colony. Read by Benedict Cumberbatch, this is his life in his own words.

From his childhood in the Soviet Union; to falling in love with his wife, Yulia; becoming a father; campaigning against corruption and his political successes, we encounter a man driven by passion for his country. We learn about the arrests, the harassment, the poisonings, the legal battles, and finally we hear from his prison diaries, written during the three years of his imprisonment. Despite the adversity he never lost his humour, his zest for life and his convictions.

Alexei Navalny was awarded various international honours including the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize.

Translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0025vpl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0025vpn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m0025vpq)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0025vps)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Shadow World (m0025vpv)
The Willpower Detectives

The Willpower Detectives - Ep 1. The Doorstep Stranger

Concerned neighbours ask Sue Mitchell for help in finding out how one man has taken control of the finances of scores of vulnerable people.

This is the hidden scandal of Power of Attorney.

In Hertfordshire towns, people who live alone are disappearing. Their neighbours are wondering why they’ve not seen them, or if they might have died.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

It often involves people with little or no family to ask questions about where they are moved to, or to challenge the fees involved. It can be people who’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, whose assets are now helping to fund those who are taking decisions for them.

The series looks at the loopholes that allow it to happen and the relationship between care homes, social workers and a business taking on a huge number of powers of attorney. It begins with the concerned friends and relatives who want to know what has happened to their neighbour or loved one; Where have they gone? And why has their home been emptied and sold?

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0025vbq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Hennikay (m001g35x)
Series 1

4. Going Home

Bill Bailey stars as Guy Starling, a middle aged man who, after 45 years, and for reasons quite unknown to him, is suddenly revisited by his imaginary childhood friend, Hennikay.

Things have come to a head for Guy. He has lost his job, he’s running out of money and, most worrying of all, his 11-year-old imaginary friend, Hennikay, is still a very permanent – and annoying – fixture in his life. No matter how hard he tries to persuade him that he doesn’t exist, he just can’t get him to leave.

And so in a last-ditch attempt to understand why his old friend has returned from his childhood and just what he wants, Guy decides to go back home to where it all started and see his Mum – who unfortunately for him, is not imaginary.

Over the years Guy has found that trips back to his boyhood home never go smoothly, but this one becomes spectacularly rocky. As mother and son share some uncomfortable home truths, family skeletons are dragged out of cupboards and Guy gets stuck in a bush.

As always, Hennikay is there to save the day and this time in the most unexpected way. Because, as he tells Guy, just because he’s imaginary, doesn’t mean he’s not real.

Cast:
Guy – Bill Bailey
Tony – Dave Lamb
Marika – Elizabeth Carling
Sheila - Miranda Richardson
Hennikay – Max Pattison

Written by David Spicer
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Marple: Three New Stories (m001g92t)
Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths

Murder at the Villa Rosa (Part 1)

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

Murder at the Villa Rosa by Elly Griffiths
An author who has travelled to the Amalfi coast with murder on his mind barely notices the genteel old lady who is also a guest at the villa...

Read by John Heffernan
Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Almost 50 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, 'Marple: Twelve New Stories' is a collection of ingenious stories by acclaimed authors who also happen to be Christie devotees.


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m0025vpx)
Doug Allan on Captain Jacques Cousteau

Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau was an oceanographer, filmmaker and explorer who made the seas a subject of fascination for millions.

During his time in the French Navy, Cousteau co-invented the Aqua-Lung: the first self-contained kit that allowed a diver to breathe underwater. This and his fascination with capturing images of the subaquatic world paved the way for a career filming the first underwater documentaries.

Travelling the seas with his trusty crew on their boat, the Calypso, Captain Cousteau in his trademark knitted red cap became a household name; thanks to shows including his TV series ‘The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau’. He came across as a charming and eloquent showman - but his life wasn't without its tragedies and controversies...

Nominating Cousteau is wildlife cameraman and and trained biologist Doug Allan, whose career filming animals, primarily in polar regions and underwater, was hugely inspired by the Frenchman. Doug says: "There's a mischievousness about him that he carried thorugh his whole life... I think he was just a really powerful, charismatic character."

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC Studios Audio is Lucy Taylor.


MON 15:30 History's Heroes (m0025vpz)
History's Youngest Heroes

History's Youngest Heroes: 1. Nelson Mandela and the Defiance Campaign

Before he became a world leader, how did Mandela as a young activist first attempt to overthrow the South African government to end apartheid?

Nicola Coughlan shines a light on extraordinary young people from across history. Join her for 12 stories of rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Producer: Elaina Boateng
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


MON 16:00 Missing Pieces: The Lesbian Mothers Scandal (m0025vb2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0025sr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0025vq2)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025vq4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0025vq6)
Series 82

Episode 1

Radio 4's multi award-winning ‘antidote to panel games’ promises yet more quality, desk-based entertainment for all the family.

The series begins at the Great Hall in Exeter where Lee Mack and Miles Jupp are pitched against Tony Hawks and Caroline Quentin, with Jack Dee in the role of reluctant chairman.

Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano.

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0025vhj)
Alan faces a tricky negotiation, and Natasha gives some home truths.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0025vq9)
Kelsey Mann on Inside Out 2, Humphrey Bogart documentary

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0025l2l)
What’s going on in Syria?

Syrian rebels launched an offensive taking most of a major city - Aleppo - from the forces of the government. Suddenly there has been talk about the possible collapse of the regime that rules most of a country that borders Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq, and in which Iran and Russia take the most active of interests.

So who now are the rebels, might they topple the government of President Assad, and if they did, what then?

Charles Lister, Senior Fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC.
Lina Khatib, Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute.
Chris Phillips, professor of international relations at queen Mary’s university, an associate at Chatham House and author of The Battle for Syria.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight and Beth Ashmead Latham
Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar, Neva Missirian
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0025l2n)
Fact-checking the Bovaer backlash

Some social media users have been pouring milk down the drain and chucking their butter in the bin in protest over a new additive in cow feed that claims to reduce methane emissions.

The online posts, attacking Arla Food’s trial of Bovaer with three big supermarkets and 30 farms in the UK, have had millions of views.

So, what do we know – what is this additive and how is it going to tackle burpy cows? And what is the evidence it is safe?

We interrogate the science with Sharon Huws, professor in animal science, and food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond...

Also this week, are billionaires really deserting Earth for space? What is the upshot for our plastic waste problem after global talks on a treaty ended in failure? And why, just why, are orcas being spotted wearing salmon hats?

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth 

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m0025vpb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Mythical Creatures (m001tj0l)
3. Water Demons

Fantasy writer Rhianna Pratchett takes us across an enchanted British Isles to discover mythical creatures that lurk in all corners of the land. She finds out what they can tell us about our history, our world and ourselves.

Rhianna explores the dark world of water demons, from Jenny Greenteeth in the North of England to kelpies – shapeshifting water horses – in Scotland. She hears chilling details of their activities and their purpose but also learns what can be used for protection against these fearsome creatures.

Storyteller: Lari Don
Contributor: Mark Norman

Presenter: Rhianna Pratchett
Producers: Lorna Skingley and Sarah Harrison
Executive Producer: Mel Harris
Production Manager: Nikki Cannon
Original Music by Ben MacDougall
Sound Design and Mixing: John Scott

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0025vqc)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (m0025vqf)
6: 'Do you think we've bred a monster?'

The stunning new novel from Booker Prize-winning author, Alan Hollinghurst.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen when he wins a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie ahead, despite the vicious bullying of his wealthy classmates. Worst of these is the brutish Giles Hadlow, whose parents sponsored the scholarship and who seem to prefer Dave to their ruthless son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s through to the Pandemic: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture; a talented actor on the road with an experimental theatre company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England threatens Dave’s own stability. And finally, as the Covid Pandemic hits, the two men’s lives and values will collide in a cruel shock of violence.

Today: As Dave's acting career takes off in seventies London, love and passion finally blossom...

Reader: Steve John Shepherd is an actor of English, Burmese and Chinese ancestry. He is best known for his TV roles in This Life and East Enders.
Writer: Alan Hollinghurst
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 23:00 Limelight (p0clfhtg)
English Rose - Series 1

English Rose - Episode 5: Daddy Issues

By Helen Cross. Maya is excited by her new life and potential, but she has a lot to learn. Restraint for one thing. Rose is worried that Gulliver's family will want to steal him and The Others will try to kill him. Delphine isn't returning her calls. And then there's Austin, who knows her secret.

Eighteen year old Rose has travelled from Whitby to New York to work as nanny to a glittering but secretive family. It’s a culture shock and Rose has had to devise ways of dealing with unwelcome male attention. But it turns out she is quite capable of looking after herself: bloody revenge is her speciality. She's not like the other girls. And Gulliver is no ordinary baby. This is a world not just of champagne, but shadows, where all is definitely not as it seems. Stylish and surprising fantasy horror with a comic twist, starring Alexandra Mardell (Coronation Street) and Demetri Goritsas (Ten Percent).

With music by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Mercury-nominated band, Porridge Radio.

Rose ... Alexandra Mardell
Maya ... Miranda Braun
Austin ... Demetri Goritsas
Siobhan ... Deirdre Mullins
Delphine ... Yasemin Özdemir
Randy ... Michael Begley
Art Guy ... Mathew Durkan
Beatrice ... Alexandra Hannant
Newsreader ... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Jason ... Joseph Tweedale
Mam ... Jane Thornton

Including the voices of Jo Makel, Paul Murphy, James Hoggarth, Freya Pollaidh, Augusta Chapman, Becky Ripley and Ben Casswell.
Original music written and performed by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Porridge Radio, and produced, mixed and engineered by Sam Yardley.

Sound design by Ilse Lademann
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0025vqh)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER 2024

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0025vqk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025vqm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025vqq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025vqv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0025vqz)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025vr3)
Confronted by Barth

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. One of my theological heroes is the great Reformed theologian Karl Barth who died some 46 years ago today. In his early years he was a combative figure challenging the liberal theology which he believed had led the Church astray and unable to face the crisis engulfing Europe in World War 1. More recently his reputation has been challenged by the revelation that his colleague Charlotte von Kirschbaum was not just his assistant but also his long-term partner. But when the rise of Nazism led to a second crisis across Europe, it was Barth’s insistence that theology should listen to the Word of God and not to men speaking in a loud voice that enabled him to offer leadership to those in the Church resisting Hitler. For this he was thrown out of Germany and back to Basel in his native Switzerland.

There he found a friendship with a young Catholic scholar Hans Urs von Balthasar which would profoundly affect both their theological works. This renewed ecumenical engagement would in turn lead Barth to play a significant role in the newly formed World Council of Churches, through which he offered a fresh vision of how the Church might recover its mission with a clearer focus on Christ. Barth appears listed among the saints in the Calendar of the Episcopal Church of America to be remembered as a ‘Pastor and theologian’. T here is something deeply appropriate in the reminder he offers as we reflect on the day’s news, that the Christian preacher must always ‘hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in another’.

Almighty God,
We thank you for the life and work of Karl Barth, and his reminding us of that simple but profound truth that goes to the heart of Christian faith, that ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, because the Bible tells me so.
Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0025vr6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0025vgw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Reith Lectures (m0025vgy)
Gwen Adshead - Four Questions about Violence

Does Trauma Cause Violence?

How best do we understand how to manage powerful emotions such as rage, fear and shame? With very rare access, Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead gives her third Reith Lecture inside HMP Grendon, where she talks to prisoners and staff, and asks the question: “Does trauma cause violence?”

Does being a victim of violence in some circumstances make you more likely to become a perpetrator of violence? Was WH Auden right when he wrote in 1939 ‘Those to whom evil is done do evil in return’?

The Reith Lectures are presented and chaired by Anita Anand.

Producer: Jim Frank

Editor: Clare Fordham


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0025vh0)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m0025lcp)
Rhodri Marsden and Yazz Ahmed head from Bahrain to Japan

British-Bahraini Flugelhorn and trumpet player Yazz Ahmed and writer and musician Rhodri Marsden bring their instruments to the studio to add the next five tracks with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe. The musical patch will lead them from the Caribbean to Springfield, Bahrain, Japan and a controversial optimistic slice of British humour.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Jump in the Line by Harry Belafonte
The Simpsons Theme by Danny Elfman
Ala Wain by Majaz
Ue o Muite Arukō (Sukiyaki) by Kyu Sakamoto
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle

Other music in this episode:

Money (That's What I Want) by Barrett Strong
Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela) by Hugh Masekela
Jump In the Line by Woody Herman
Labor Day by Lord Invader
Banana Boat (Day-O) by Harry Belafonte
Midnight Special by Harry Belafonte
Main Titles from Beetlejuice soundtrack by Danny Elfman
Magic Moments by Perry Como
Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
Give a Little Whistle from Pinocchio by Cliff Edwards and Dickie Jones


TUE 11:45 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vh2)
Episode 2. Love

Alexei Navalny was the fearless and outspoken Russian opposition leader. Today, he recalls the early years of his political career, and finding the love of his life. Benedict Cumberbatch reads.

From his childhood in the Soviet Union; to falling in love with his wife, Yulia; becoming a father; campaigning against corruption and his political successes, we encounter a man driven by passion for his country. We learn about the arrests, the harassment, the poisonings, the legal battles, and finally we hear from his prison diaries, written during the three years of his imprisonment. Despite the adversity he never lost his sense of humour, his zest for life and his convictions.

Alexei Navalny was awarded various international honours including the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize.

Translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0025vh5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0025vh7)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0025vh9)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0025vhc)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Shadow World (m0025vhf)
The Willpower Detectives

The Willpower Detectives - Ep 2. A Trust Betrayed

Maisie was struggling to cope and thought giving someone control of her finances would help: she later regretted signing that Power of Attorney order and tells Sue Mitchell why.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - Concerned neighbours ask Sue Mitchell for help.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

It often involves people with little or no family to ask questions about where they are moved to, or to challenge the fees involved. It can be people who’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, whose assets are now helping to fund those who are taking decisions for them.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0025vhj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0025vhl)
The Heat of the Sun

A new radio play by Viv Groskop.

Betty bought her beloved place in the sun in Alheurin, high in the mountains above Malaga, in the late 1980s. A few years later she moved over there completely and ran a successful and much admired holiday rental management business. She is one of a wave of Brits who made their home in Spain, working hard in anticipation of an early retirement in the Spanish community she knows and loves.

Now in her 70s, Betty finds herself victim of a situation she had not anticipated - sunny Spain is suddenly a little bit too, er, sunny.

This summer, as temperatures hit 45 degrees, Spain’s health minister warned that the country’s tourism industry was under threat — and cautioned that if tourism numbers continue as they have been, local infrastructure would not be able to support the numbers. Betty can see it’s already happening. The area where she lives is experiencing water shortages. Air conditioning firms are overwhelmed in the extreme heat.

Maybe she could manage all this if one big thing wasn’t changing. Her brother Andy and his wife, Sue - who Betty persuaded to come out here years ago - are contemplating heading home to their grandchildren.

Betty has never been lonely in this place. But if they go…

Cast:
BETTY - Joanna David
SUE - Jane Slavin
ANDY - Ian Conningham
PILAR - Jacey Salles
SARAH - Rebecca Birch

Produced and directed by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m0025vhn)
Lost Futures

Time capsules and yesterday's dreams of tomorrow, Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures exploring lost futures.

That’s Merely an Adjective
Produced by Zara Karschay

Time Play by Chelsea Kigano, Lily Sloane, Lilia Vega, and Emily Shaw
Originally made as part of The 24-Hour Radio Race from KCRW's Independent Producer Project
Music and sound design by Lily Sloane, with Time Ain't Gonna Make Me Stay by Ed Andrews
Special thanks to David Lee

Letters
Produced by Mika Golubovsky
Featuring Zehnya Feldman and Natasha Zotova
Special thanks to Sasha Borzenko

Higher Ground
Produced by Leila Goldstein
Featuring Winda Safitri, Yoppi and Naya Hidayatul Alialna

Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Produced by Axel Kacoutié
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m0025vhq)
Armour of God

Giles Fraser meets Imam Asim Hafiz the first Muslim chaplain to the British Armed Forces and an Islamic advisor for the Ministry of Defence, who has been working with the armed forces since 2004 and has experienced many changes which have seen attitudes towards his role shifting according to the political climate, and Mandeep Kaur who was appointed as the first and only Sikh Chaplain for the entire British Armed Forces. She reflects on why the idea of military chaplaincy may seem like a difficult job to take on and the impact of the role within faith communities.

There are approximately 260 regular and 58 reserve chaplains across the armed forces. They serve personnel dealing with the pressures of being away from home, working in hostile environments and dealing with life and death decisions. How has the service evolved to support the broad range of beliefs represented in the armed forces? And how can religious belief really be balanced with the very real possibility of military action leading to loss of life?

To discuss Giles is joined by Roger Hutton, President of Defence Humanists and former Ministry of Defence Director International Security, Dr. Sunil Kariyakarawana, the first Buddhist Chaplain to the British Armed Forces, and the Revd Joanna Jepson, an Anglican priest and a Chaplain to the British Army.

Producers: Alexa Good and Linda Walker
Editors: Tim Pemberton and Chloe Walker


TUE 16:00 Poetry Please (m0025vhs)
Michael Sheen

Actor Michael Sheen is best known for playing major public figures but he's also a great lover of poetry. In this edition of Poetry Please he joins Roger McGough to choose some of his favourite poetry that has also been requested by listeners to the programme.
Michael selects poetry by Dylan Thomas including the so-called 'lost' poem A Dream of Winter. As a child Michael says Thomas' work was in the ether and an early memory is of hearing Richard Burton reading the poems.
His other choices include works by RS Thomas, Tom Hirons, Ted Hughes and Robert Graves

Producer: Maggie Ayre


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m0025vhv)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


TUE 17:00 PM (m0025vhx)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025vhz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Best Medicine (m0025vj1)
Series 2

4 - CAR T-cells, Ritual, Water, Crying

Joining Kiri this week are Dr Claire Roddie who retrains cells to fight cancer using revolutionary, game-changing CAR T-cell therapy, and comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri who finds spiritual healing in Water. Dr Lindsey Fitzharris takes comfort in rituals both historical and present-day to help her remember her grandmother Dorothy Scissors, and Rev Benjamin Perry explains how crying can be the best medicine.

Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by a funny and fascinating panel of comedians, doctors, scientists, and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future.

Each week, Kiri challenges panellists to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each guest champions anything from world-changing science or an obscure invention, to an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.

Whether it’s origami surgical robots, life-changing pineapple UTI vaccines, Victorian scandal mags, denial, sleep, tiny beating organoid hearts, lifesaving stem cell transplants, gold poo donors or even crying - it’s always something worth celebrating.

Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Featuring: Fatiha El-Ghorri, Dr Lindsay Fitzharris, Rev Benjamin Perry and Dr Claire Roddie

Written by Laura Claxton, Edward Easton, Mel Owen, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben Rowse

Producers: Tashi Radha and Ben Worsfield

Theme tune composed by Andrew Jones

A Large Time production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0025vj3)
There’s an emergency dash for Ruth, and it’s a difficult day for Lynda.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0025vj5)
Public Service Broadcasting perform live

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Claire Bartleet


TUE 20:00 Today (m0025vj7)
The Today Debate

Mishal Husain is joined by an expert panel for the Today Debate.


TUE 20:45 In Touch (m0025vj9)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m0025vjc)
Mining the Pacific – future proofing or fool’s gold?

Climate change is intensifying, sea levels are rising and the very existence of low-lying Pacific Islands is under threat. The Cook Islands, though, has a plan to assure their peoples’ future. Enter deep sea mining, harvesting metallic nodules on the bottom of the sea floor for use in things like electric car batteries and mobile phones. Its supporters say it’s a climate change ‘solution’- a better alternative to mining on land. And one that could make Cook Islanders very rich indeed. Its detractors worry we’re messing with its Moana - or ocean – with no real idea of the impacts. Katy Watson travels to Rarotonga to find out how islanders feel about searching for ‘gold’ on the sea floor.

Producer: Lindle Markwell
Presenter: Katy Watson
Studio Manager: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy


TUE 21:30 Rory Stewart: The Long History of... (m0021cbt)
Ignorance

Ignorance: 4. Ignorance in Politics

We prize knowledge, and rightly so. We think of ignorance as a bad thing. But ignorance is inseparable from what we know.

Knowledge can distract us, mislead us and endanger us. While ignorance is often the most fundamental insight about our human condition. Ignorance is not simply the opposite of knowledge, but a positive force with its own momentum that gives meaning to our lives. It drives scientific discovery, fosters creativity and can be psychologically helpful.

That’s why Rory Stewart wants to make a radical case for embracing ignorance. He wants to encourage a way of knowing in which knowledge and ignorance exist in a relationship with each other.

With a cast of global thinkers, drawing on Western and Eastern ideas from the ancient world to the present day, Rory explores how a greater awareness and appreciation of ignorance can help us become more clear-thinking, humble, empathetic and wise.

Writer and presenter: Rory Stewart
Producer: Dan Tierney
Mixing: Tony Churnside
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

Readings by Rhiannon Neads

Contributions across the series from:

Alex Edmans - Professor of Finance at London Business School.
Ani Rinchen Khandro - a life ordained nun in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Annette Martin - Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Antony Gormley - sculptor.
Carlo Rovelli - Theoretical physicist and Professor in the Department of Physics at Aix-Marseille University.
Daniel DeNicola - Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania – and author of ‘Understanding Ignorance: The Surprising Impact of What We Don't Know’ (2018).
Daniel Whiteson - Professor of Physics at The University of California, Irvine.
Derek Black - Author of ‘The Klansman’s Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism’ (2024).
Edith Hall - Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History, at Durham University.
Fabienne Peter - Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick.
Felix Martin - economist and fund manager.
Iain McGilchrist - Psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, philosopher and literary scholar.
James C. Scott - Anthropologist and Sterling Professor Emeritus in Political Science at Yale University.
Jay Owens - Author of ‘Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles’ (2023).
John Lloyd - Television and radio comedy producer and writer.
Jonathan Evans, Baron Evans of Weardale - Former Director General of MI5.
Karen Douglas - Professor of social psychology at the University of Kent.
Mark Lilla - professor of humanities at Columbia University, New York City and author of ‘Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know’ (2024).
Martin Palmer - Theologian, sinologist and translator of Daoist and Confucian texts.
Mary Beard - Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge.
Michael Ignatieff - Professor in the Department of History at Central European University in Budapest and former Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Neil Hannon - singer-songwriter and frontman of The Divine Comedy.
Nicholas Gruen - policy economist and social commentator.
Rik Peels - Professor of Philosophy, Theology and Religion at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and author of ‘Ignorance: A Philosophical Study (2023)’.
Robert Beckford - Theologian and Professor of Climate and Social Justice at the University of Winchester.
Rowan Williams - Theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Sandrine Parageau - Professor of Early Modern British History at Sorbonne University and author of ‘The Paradoxes of Ignorance in Early Modern England and France’ (2023).
Stuart Firestein - Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, New York City and author of ‘Ignorance: How It Drives Science’ (2012).
Tom Forth - data scientist, Head of Data at ‘Open Innovations’ and co-founder of ‘The Data City’.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0025vjf)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (m0025vjh)
7: 'You're very bad.'

The eagerly awaited new novel from Booker Prize-winning author, Alan Hollinghurst.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen when he wins a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie ahead, despite the vicious bullying of his wealthy classmates. Worst of these is the brutish Giles Hadlow, whose parents sponsored the scholarship and who seem to prefer Dave to their ruthless son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s through to the Pandemic: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture; a talented actor on the road with an experimental theatre company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England threatens Dave’s own stability. And finally, as the Covid Pandemic hits, the two men’s lives and values will collide in a cruel shock of violence.

Today: A thrilling new affair with a rising star in the theatre, forces Dave to confront the issue of race.....

Reader: Steve John Shepherd is an actor of English, Burmese and Chinese ancestry. He is best known for his TV roles in This Life and East Enders.
Writer: Alan Hollinghurst
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 23:00 Now You're Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn (m0025wy4)
The Production Crush Problem

Is 60 too old to develop a crush? Not if you're working closely with a handsome stranger on a amateur dramatics show, it seems. Meanwhile, the programme takes a foodie turn with a worry about when 'splitting the bill' gets abused, and another asker is worried about her boyfriend's table manners in front of her fussy parents.

Every week, Now You're Asking with best-selling author Marian Keyes and writer/performer Tara Flynn opens the programme's email inbox and pulls out some interesting puzzles, queries and conundrums. Everything gets read, then we do our best to pick as wide a range of Asks to answer as we can. And hopefully amuse and entertain along the way. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of the things that keep us awake at night.

Earlier series of Now You're Asking were welcomed by listeners and critics:
"Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if left-field, advice." (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer)
"Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act." (Jane Anderson - Radio Times)
"I found their compassion endlessly soothing." (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman)

We have been inundated with emails since the last series but everything gets read and we're always on the lookout for new questions, queries and conundrums to include on the show. Got a problem you want Marian and Tara to solve? Email: marianandtara@bbc.co.uk.

Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0025vjk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 11 DECEMBER 2024

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0025vjm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vh2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025vjp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025vjr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025vjt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0025vjw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025vjy)
Children and climate change

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. It’s not been an easy time for Greta Thunberg since she was chosen as Time magazine’s Person of the Year on this day in 2019, following her electrifying speech at the United Nations Climate Action summit. The hope had been that the child of another generation might shame political leaders into more serious action to address climate change. But events over the last 5 years have not turned out as positively as she and her young colleagues had hoped. The COP process seems to be stuttering, the Paris targets seem unlikely to be met, and there are increasing fears that the incoming government of the world’s largest economy, the United States, will pull out of the whole process altogether.

In the meantime the world continues to get warmer, with scientists suggesting that we may already be about to reach the 1.5° increase in temperature which was the Paris goal, and the impact of extreme weather becomes ever more difficult to ignore, whether in the recent devastating floods in Spain or the increasing number and severity of storms across the Caribbean. Is there anything that can be done about this? Perhaps it’s here another child can help us. For Christmas isn’t just a time for children; it’s about a child who is born into this world – and not just any child, but one whom Christians believe to be the Son of God. The gospels are clear that Jesus comes not to judge but to save the world; but also that we will not be saved ‘apart’ from the rest of creation but only ‘as part’ of it. Maybe that’s a message we need to be reminded of in these last 2 weeks before Christmas.

Heavenly Father,
In the good news of Jesus’ birth, you show us the depth of your love for us and for this your world. Help us to learn how to cherish it for its goodness and to share it with all others for whom it is home.
Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0025vk0)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m0025w52)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m0025w22)
Volunteering for Freedom

As a young man Mohammed, or MFA Zaman arrived in Britain from Bangladesh with a working visa, a patron and a job lined up as a chef. On arrival all the promises of a bright future turned to ashes. His patron confiscated his documents and put him to work. It was a punishing schedule. He then discovered that his boss had tried and failed to get him a Visa extension, meaning that he was working illegally.

But at this lowest of low ebbs in his life, Mohammed decided that he needed to do something - and that something was to volunteer at an old people's community club in Lewisham, near where he was living. For three hours a week every Tuesday, he helped serve the elderly visitors. He talked to them, befriended many of them and they, in turn, started to show him that London wasn't all bad. It was a Life Changing decision and it would lead eventually to him being a volunteer at the London Olympics and a representative of London at the Paris Olympics. But clearing his name and proving to the authorities that he had done nothing wrong and was the victim of modern day slavery was a massive challenge.

Producer: Tom Alban


WED 09:30 The Gift (m00255x3)
Series 2

6. Superdonor

The donor conceived people turning to at-home DNA tests for answers.

It’s the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. It promises to tell you who you really are, and how you’re connected to the world. A present that will reveal your genetic past – but could also disrupt your future.

In the first series of The Gift, Jenny Kleeman looked at the extraordinary truths that can unravel when people take at-home DNA tests like Ancestry and 23andMe.

For the second series, Jenny is going deeper into the unintended consequences - the aftershocks - set in motion when people link up to the enormous global DNA database.

Reconnecting and rupturing families, uprooting identities, unearthing long-buried secrets - what happens after technology, genealogy and identity collide?

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Editor: Philip Sellars
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The Gift is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0025w54)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 Today (m0025vj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:45 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025w56)
Episode 3. The Beautiful Russia of the Future.

Before his death in February, 2024, Alexei Navalny was the fearless and outspoken Russian opposition leader. Today, he sets out his political vision for a Beautiful Russia of the Future. Benedict Cumberbatch reads.

From his childhood in the Soviet Union; to falling in love with his wife, Yulia; becoming a father; campaigning against corruption and his political successes, we encounter a man driven by passion for his country. We learn about the arrests, the harassment, the poisonings, the legal battles, and finally we hear from his prison diaries, written during the three years of his imprisonment. Despite the adversity he never lost his sense of humour, his zest for life and his convictions.

Alexei Navalny was awarded various international honours including the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize.

Translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0025w58)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m0025w5b)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m0025w5d)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0025w5g)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


WED 13:45 Shadow World (m0025w5j)
The Willpower Detectives

The Willpower Detectives - Ep 3. My Dying Wish

Sue Mitchell tracks what happens when a rock and roll roadie leaves his estate to his closest friends. They become increasingly concerned that things aren't being properly handled.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - concerned neighbours ask Sue for help.

This series examines how one man has taken control of the finances of scores of vulnerable people and also acts as executor on many wills. By tracking recent cases through national databases, Sue Mitchell meets friends and relatives of some of those who have died and examines concerns about the way that things were handled.

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0025vj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0025w5l)
Lenin Forever!

Inspired by true events, Orlando Wells' irreverent and anarchic comedy tells the story of two scientists tasked with embalming the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin for public display.

It's 1924. Lenin is dead. Stalin has seized power and his shadow falls over the lives of millions of Russians. A group of senior Bolsheviks, the self-proclaimed Immortalisation Commission, request the services of two scientists to aide their cause: ensure the Revolution’s survival by building a shrine to their deceased messianic leader. The country's future hangs in the balance; the Communist regime is still in its infancy and a personality cult might be instrumental in legitimising Russia's new overlords. Although it has never been done before, the scientists are under no illusion of the consequence of failure.

Vladimir . . . . . Matthew Steer
Boris . . . . . Ashley Margolis
Faina . . . . . Rhiannon Neads
Krasin . . . . . Kenneth Collard
Dzerzhinsky . . . . . David Hounslow
Lenin . . . . . Gyuri Sarossy
Nadya . . . . . Ruth Everett

The guitarist is Ian Dunnet Jnr.

Studio managers: Peter Ringrose and Alison Craig.
Sound design: Peter Ringrose.
Production co-ordinator: Gaelan Davis-Connolly.
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.

Orlando Wells is a writer and an actor. Lenin Forever! is his first radio play. He has also written five original theatre plays: The Winter Room (RSC fringe festival), Cold Enough, The Tin Horizon (Theatre 503), Four Days in Hong Kong (The Orange Tree) about Edward Snowden’s exposure of the NSA’s spy programme, and The Woodcutter’s Tale. He adapted Patrick Hamilton’s The Duke in Darkness for the Chiswick Playhouse; and co-wrote the libretto for the experimental opera, Triptych, at the Print Rooms and Wilton’s Music Hall. He was a series-writer for the animated children programs Xolight and Noksu.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m0025w5n)
The Money Box team invites listeners and a panel of experts to discuss one personal finance topic in depth.


WED 15:30 Pipping a Plant Pandemic (m0025w5q)
How do you stop a plant pathogen ripping through our farms and gardens? Pippa Greenwood follows the front line scientists defending our herbivorous economy.

Nearly everyone on earth remembers the disruption, damage, and of course deaths, resulting from the 2020 Sars CoV-2 spread, but have you ever considered what would happen if plants suffered a similar wave of deadly infection?

As humans, our lives and economies are completely dependent on the wellbeing of plants. From the major food crops (both our foods and animal feed), to timber and textiles.

Pippa Greenwood has spent most of her adult life fascinated by plant pathogens and the vulnerabilities of our crucial crops.

For this programme she has travelled to the front line of the UK's efforts to monitor, predict and prevent disease entering the country and the scientists working full time to keep our farms and nurseries safe. From the docks and ports, to the importers, the inspectors and the labs that make up the UK safety net, she describes quite how much goes on without most of us knowing. And finds some simple ways in which we can all play our part.

Presented by Pippa Greenwood

Produced by Alex Mansfield


WED 16:00 The Media Show (m0025vwp)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.


WED 17:00 PM (m0025w5s)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025w5v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 You Heard It Here First (m001ypty)
Series 2

'This is such a good game!'

Chris McCausland asks Lucy Beaumont and Daliso Chaponda to take on Mel Giedroyc and Ben Shephard. Lucy Beaumont believes a game where guests figure out the emotions of dogs just from the sounds they're making, is the best game ever. The teams must figure out what on earth is being advertised on TV, guess what famous objects or locations children are trying to describe.

Producer: Sasha Bobak
Assistant Producer: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini

A BBC Studios Production

An EcoAudio certified production


WED 19:00 The Archers (m0025vw1)
David struggles to keep his emotions in check, and Robert has a confession to make.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0025w5x)
Jesus and Mary Chain, the future of pantomime

William and Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain talk to Kirsty Wark about their latest single Pop Seeds.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m0025w5z)
Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.


WED 21:00 The Hazard of the Die (m00244rx)
Michael has a limp – and it’s getting worse. The young actor is in the middle of writing a radio drama about an experimental drug trial when he receives a diagnosis – he has Motor Neurone Disease. Average life expectancy is four years.
Should he sail around the world with his fiancé? Buy a pub with his mates? Of course not. Michael decides to stage a major production of Shakespeare’s longest history play – Richard III – with himself in the lead role, directed by best friend and writing partner Oisín.
At the same time, Michael gets a chance to join an experimental drug trial that could offer a promising new treatment for MND.
Now, he and Oisín just have to convince the Lyric Theatre in Belfast to stage their ambitious production of Richard, while Michael wonders if the drug can offer any hope against the disease’s relentless progression.

Presented by Michael Patrick
Written by Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney
Produced by Conor McKay

A BBC Northern Ireland Production


WED 21:30 The Conflict (m0025w61)
Middle East

11/12/2024

What can history teach us about the conflict in the Middle East?

Jonny Dymond brings together a carefully assembled panel of experts, academics and journalists to talk about the conflict in the region.

What has happened in history to lead us to this point? And, what can history teach us about what might happen next?

Please get in touch with Jonny and the team: theconflict@bbc.co.uk.

The Conflict: Middle East was made by Keiligh Baker and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producers were Jonny Hall and Tim Heffer. The assistant editor is Ben Mundy. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

This episode is part of a BBC Sounds series.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0025w63)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


WED 22:45 Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (m0025w65)
8: 'We were at school together.'

The eagerly awaited new novel from Booker Prize-winning author, Alan Hollinghurst.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen when he wins a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie ahead, despite the vicious bullying of his wealthy classmates. Worst of these is the brutish Giles Hadlow, whose parents sponsored the scholarship and who seem to prefer Dave to their ruthless son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s through to the Pandemic: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture; a talented actor on the road with an experimental theatre company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England threatens Dave’s own stability. And finally, as the Covid Pandemic hits, the two men’s lives and values will collide in a cruel shock of violence.

Today: at a literary festival, Dave comes face-to-face with his old bully, Giles, Hadlow, now a rising-star MP....

Reader: Steve John Shepherd is an actor of English, Burmese and Chinese ancestry. He is best known for his TV roles in This Life and East Enders.
Writer: Alan Hollinghurst
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


WED 23:00 Sarah Mills' Bad Bod Squad (m0025w67)
Episode 4- Wonky

Sarah Mills' comedy guide to dealing with a fallible and embarrassing body.

Since losing part of her bowel comedian Sarah Mills has used a stoma bag. She might tell you that having a bag attached to her belly to collect her poo has made her unembarrassable, but the truth is she has always been completely shameless. Now, with the assistance of her outrageously candid celebrity guests, she wants to smash the taboos around bodily malfunctions and help us all banish bodily embarrassment for good.

Recorded in her home town of Stevenage, in this this week’s episode, Wonky, Sarah explores, bodily eccentricity, with writer, comedian and actor Eshaan Akbar.

Created and written by Sarah Mills
Starring Sarah Mills with special guest Eshaan Akbar
Recording Engineer and Editor: Jerry Peal
Recording Assistant: Guy Thomas
Script Editor: Zoe Tomalin
Associate Producer: Antonia Gospel
Executive Producer: Alan Nixon
Production Manager:
Co- Producers: Gordon Kennedy and Sarah Mills

Recorded in front of a live audience at Stevenage Lytton Players Theatre

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4

Additional information on issues in this episode:
https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk
https://actionhearingloss.org.uk/
https://rnid.org.uk/


WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (m001nvzp)
Series 10

1. Patrick Marber, Peter Curran and comic legend Kathy Burke grapple with the wonders and woes of life

The semi-delirious talk show returns. Special guests include British Arts colossus Sir Richard Eyre, and a return of comic heroes Kathy Burke and Jane Horrocks.

In this episode - with Kathy Burke - anger, dribbling during massages, the art of writing, finding a twinkly partner.

'Bunk Bed is funny, strange, enchanting, and beautifully put together.' - The Observer

'Bunk Bed is beloved by broadsheet critics, but don't let that put you off....' - Metro

Produced by Peter Curran
Sound design by David Thomas

A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0025w69)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER 2024

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0025w6c)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025w56)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025w6f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025w6h)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025w6k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0025w6m)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025w6p)
Christmas jumpers

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Stephen Wigley.

Good morning. Advent is traditionally a time of preparation and in Christian tradition part of this has been considering the serious things which will in time confront us all. But we’re now half way through Advent, and I sense that for most folk there’s a very different kind of preparation underway, an alternative calendar based around office parties, Santa’s grotto & of course Christmas jumpers. You see them about everywhere, brightly coloured confections in acrylic with a cheesy message across the chest. It seems like everyone has to have one, and I even saw a photo of a dinosaur modelling one in the Museum of Natural History. So I was not surprised to discover that today has been designated ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ (alongside National Ambrosia and Poinsettia Days!)

However, a bit more research led me to discover that there is more to this than just a bit of festive fun. Having a ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ may seem a little silly, but there’s a more serious cause behind it. It’s actually intended as a charitable initiative, where people are encouraged to put on some ‘festive knit wear’ whether at work or home or school and then encouraged to make a donation to charity. The aim is to have fun, but also to raise money for children in desperate need, both in the UK and around the world. There are plenty of silly jumpers about, but equally there are plenty of children who need our support. So for the sake of a little bad taste, here’s an opportunity to spread a little Christmas cheer to children who really need it.

Loving God,
You invite us to share your joy in the coming of your Son into the world; help us as we celebrate to remember those children and young people who need our support during this Advent time.
Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0025w6r)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m0025vvb)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0025vvd)
The Habitability of Planets

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss some of the great unanswered questions in science: how and where did life on Earth begin, what did it need to thrive and could it be found elsewhere? Charles Darwin speculated that we might look for the cradle of life here in 'some warm little pond'; more recently the focus moved to ocean depths, while new observations in outer space and in laboratories raise fresh questions about the potential for lifeforms to develop and thrive, or 'habitability' as it is termed. What was the chemistry needed for life to begin and is it different from the chemistry we have now? With that in mind, what signs of life should we be looking for in the universe to learn if we are alone?

With

Jayne Birkby
Associate Professor of Exoplanetary Sciences at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow in Physics at Brasenose College

Saidul Islam
Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Kings College, London

And

Oliver Shorttle
Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Clare College

Producer: Simon Tillotson
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m0025vvg)
Armando Iannucci and Helen Lewis break down the baffling world of political language.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0025vvj)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0025dvq)
Series 31

Fantastic Elastic

Brian Cox and Robin Ince expand their knowledge of elasticity with Olympian Bryony Page, comedian Jessica Fostekew & experts Dr Anna Ploszajski and Prof James Busfield.

What makes stretchy things stretch? Together our panel journey through different applications of elastic materials and examine, at the molecular level, what happens when we stretch a material and crucially what causes it to return to its original shape. This is especially pertinent to our guest Olympic and British champion trampolinist Bryony Page who has capitalised on elasticity in her 24 year long career. We discover that the bounce of a trampoline mainly comes from the elasticity of steel and how dependent this is on temperature. Cold temperatures are not only treacherous for trampolines; we explore how the cold proved fatal to the elastic components of both the Titanic and the Challenger space shuttle.

Plus we hear how scientists sometimes just can’t beat nature; natural rubber and spiders silk are two such cases. Anna Ploszajski takes us through some of the more inventive techniques scientists have engineered to produced more of these natural materials, including genetically engineering goats to be milked for silk.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Researcher: Olivia Jani

BBC Studios Audio production


THU 11:45 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vvl)
Episode 4. Returning to Russia

Before his death in February, 2024, Alexei Navalny was the outspoken Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner. After a nerve agent attack which almost cost him his life, the opposition leader makes the decision to return to Russia in January 2021. Benedict Cumberbatch reads.

From his childhood in the Soviet Union; to falling in love with his wife, Yulia; becoming a father; campaigning against corruption and his political successes, we encounter a man driven by passion for his country. We learn about the arrests, the harassment, the poisonings, the legal battles, and finally we hear from his prison diaries, written during the three years of his imprisonment. Despite the adversity he never lost his sense of humour, his zest for life and his convictions.

Alexei Navalny was awarded various international honours including the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize.

Translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0025vvn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m0025vvq)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0025vvs)
The Sliced Bread Christmas List

The team has gone through over 100 episodes of Sliced Bread, and carved out five popular products that may well be heading down a chimney to you this Christmas.

Greg Foot will share with you the key points from experts we’ve spoken to on Air Fryers, Mascara, Perfume, Running Shoes, and DNA Ancestry Tests - as well as their conclusions in one handy festive slice! We’ve also updated some of the topics too. (The information in this episode was correct at the time of recording.)

And as always, all of our investigations start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: GREG FOOT
PRODUCER: KATE HOLDSWORTH


THU 12:57 Weather (m0025vvv)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0025vvx)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


THU 13:45 Shadow World (m0025vvz)
The Willpower Detectives

The Willpower Detectives - Ep 4. Undue Influence

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0025vw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000r3nq)
Lives in Transit

Based on a true story.

Having suffered rape and violence in her native Somalia at the hands of the terrorist cult Al-Shabaab, Asha hands over her few remaining dollars to a trafficker in the hope of finding a life for herself and her daughter in Ireland. But after years of failed asylum applications Asha’s troubles seem no closer to a resolution. Threatened with deportation by the Irish government, Asha flees northwards to the UK, in a desperate attempt to avoid being returned to almost certain death. There begins an endless cycle of to-ing and fro-ing between Britain and Ireland, as neither country seems prepared to accept her claim for asylum. Again and again she is returned to Dublin, (ironically under the Dublin agreement) and again and again she flees north to Belfast to begin her application all over again.

Cast:
Asha Suleman ... Raquel McKee
Thomas ... Jonathan Harden
Interpreter ... Farshid Rokey
Civil Servant ... Ainé McCartney
The Landlord ... Tony Flynn
Yasmin ... Nimmy March

Writer ... Rosemary Jenkinson
Producer ... Eoin O'Callaghan

BBC NI Radio Drama Production


THU 15:00 This Natural Life (m0025vw3)
Hamza Yassin

Martha Kearney meets wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin in a bird hide overlooking reed beds and marshes at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes. He speaks of his childhood growing up in Sudan on the banks of the Nile, with a large extended family and a pet monkey, before he then moved to the UK. He tells Martha about his decision to turn down the chance to study for a dentistry degree in order to become a wildlife cameraman, a dream that led him to move to the west coast of Scotland, where he lived in the back of his car for nine months. He talks about his role as Ranger Hamza (or "Ranger Hamster") for CBeebies, and his admiration for all the children he gets to meet along the way. He also speaks fondly about his time on Strictly Come Dancing, how his dyslexia helped him to learn the moves, and how his dances were inspired by the natural world. As birds fly past hide window, with the London skyline stretching beyond, Hamza speaks of hope in the face of all the difficulties facing our natural world.

Producer: Becky Ripley


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0025v9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m0025vw5)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m0025vw7)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0025vw9)
A weekly programme looking at the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m0025vwc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025vwf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Michael Spicer: No Room (m0025vwh)
1. The FeeFooVerse. Like Meta, but worse.

Can men called Tim change the world? Is the FeeFooVerse the future? And Gary Oldman is in the studio to talk about the genius of Christopher Nolan.

Social media star Michael Spicer takes on everything that frustrates and angers us, like social media. No Room is his take on current events, alongside character-filled sketches which brilliantly capture everything that provokes us - culture, politics, work...and other people.

Michael is famous for his Room Next Door government advisor character whose withering take downs of politicians have amassed more than 100 million views and helped keep his audience sane in fractured times.

An omnibus edition of episodes one and nine from series one with some new material.

Writer, Performer and Co-Editor: Michael Spicer

Composer and Sound Designer: Augustin Bousfield

Producer: Matt Tiller

A Tillervision production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0025vwk)
Romance is in the air at Bridge Farm, and Mick bites off more than he can chew.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0025vwm)
Review: The Devil Wears Prada, 100 Years of Solitude, The Universal Theory

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Corinna Jones


THU 20:00 The Media Show (m0025vwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m0025ss2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Mythical Creatures (m001tj0y)
4. Redcaps

Fantasy writer Rhianna Pratchett takes us across an enchanted British Isles to discover mythical creatures that lurk in all corners of the land. She uncovers what they can tell us about our history, our world and our lives today.

In this episode, Rhianna tentatively heads to Scotland, in search of a small but vicious castle-dweller, that soaks its cap in its victims’ blood – The Redcap.

She explores why stories of such violent creatures originated in a region with its own turbulent past, and finds out how their use has shifted over time.

Storyteller: Graeme Johncock
Contributors: Icy Sedgwick, David C. Weinczok
Additional Voiceover: Neil Hutchinson

Presenter: Rhianna Pratchett
Producers: Lorna Skingley and Sarah Harrison
Executive Producer: Mel Harris
Production Manager: Nikki Cannon
Original Music by Ben MacDougall
Sound Design and Mixing: John Scott

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0025vwt)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


THU 22:45 Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (m0025vwy)
9: 'The lark ascending!'

The stunning new novel from Booker Prize-winning author, Alan Hollinghurst.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen when he wins a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie ahead, despite the vicious bullying of his wealthy classmates. Worst of these is the brutish Giles Hadlow, whose parents sponsored the scholarship and who seem to prefer Dave to their ruthless son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s through to the Pandemic: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture; a talented actor on the road with an experimental theatre company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England threatens Dave’s own stability. And finally, as the Covid Pandemic hits, the two men’s lives and values will collide in a cruel shock of violence.

Today: with Giles Hadlow's hardline policies finding success at the ballot box, Dave faces loss on all sides...

Reader: Steve John Shepherd is an actor of English, Burmese and Chinese ancestry. He is best known for his TV roles in This Life and East Enders.
Writer: Alan Hollinghurst
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m0025vx2)
Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0025vx6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER 2024

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0025vxb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025vvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0025vxj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0025vxn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0025vxs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0025vxx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0025vy2)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Rev Dr Stephen Wigley.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0025vy6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0025w17)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m0025v9t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0025w19)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m0025w1c)
Cooking by Numbers: An Insider's Guide to Restaurant Economics

Restaurant businesses say it's getting tougher to survive? So what does it take to succeed? Dan Saladino speaks to leading chefs who've experienced success and failure.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


FRI 11:45 Patriot by Alexei Navalny (m0025w1f)
Episode 5. The Prison Diaries

Alexei Navalny, the outspoken Russian opposition leader spent three years in Russian prisons before his death in a Siberian penal colony in February 2024. As he approaches his final days he reflects on his convictions, his country and his family. Benedict Cumberbatch reads.

From his childhood in the Soviet Union; to falling in love with his wife, Yulia; becoming a father; campaigning against corruption and his political successes, we encounter a man driven by passion for his country. We learn about the arrests, the harassment, the poisonings, the legal battles, and finally we hear from his prison diaries, written during the three years of his imprisonment. Despite the adversity he never lost his sense of humour, his zest for life and his convictions.

Alexei Navalny was awarded various international honours including the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's annual human rights prize.

Translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0025w1h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m0025w1k)
Good Clean Fun

With fans travelling halfway across the country, stars expecting first class flights and venues serving up beefburgers and drinks in plastic cups the worlds of professional sport and live music share a pretty poor reputation for environmental impact. Add in the wasteful habits of high end film and TV productions and it starts to look as though anything that's fun has a disproportionate impact on the planet.

In Liverpool, they're hoping to change all that. The United Nations has asked the city to use its reputation as a hotbed of culture to devise ways to cut the carbon cost of live events and film production. To launch the project the city is hosting a conference and a series of high profile gigs with Massive Attack, Idles and Chic to showcase best practice and spread the word that fun doesn't need to cost the planet.

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap host a panel from the worlds of sports, entertainment and science to discuss a green future for fun, in front of an audience at Liverpool's Exhibition Centre.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0025w1m)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0025w1p)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


FRI 13:45 Shadow World (m0025w1r)
The Willpower Detectives

The Willpower Detectives - Ep 5. Rich Pickings

Who do people turn to if they fear that vulnerable neighbours need help, especially when relatives live far away? Sue Mitchell follows cases, hearing from some of those involved.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - concerned neighbours ask Sue for help.

This is an original investigation, with recordings in real time, exploring how power of attorney orders can be used for better or worse.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0025vwk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m0025dvy)
Aldrich Kemp and The Rose of Pamir

Aldrich Kemp and The Rose of Pamir - Chapter Four: The Missing Child

Aldrich Kemp and the gang are back with some new faces as the race for the mysterious and elusive Rose of Pamir moves from London to Paris, New York to Amsterdam and the Maldives to Tajikistan.

Chapter Four: The Missing Child

Family challenges are coming from all directions as Clara races to a Manhattan rooftop and Mrs Bartholomew visits Themis House.

Clara Page - Phoebe Fox
Aldrich Kemp – Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone – Nicola Walker
Nakesha – Karla Crome
Sebastian Harcourt & the Dutch waiter – Kyle Soller
Aunt Lily – Susan Jameson
The Underwood Sisters & Forsaken McTeague – Jana Carpenter
Mrs Bartholomew – Kate Isitt
Lionel – Steven Mackintosh
Selina – Catherine Kanter
Hazlitt - Ben Crowe

Written and directed by Julian Simpson
Music composed by Tim Elsenburg.

Sound Design: David Thomas
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Production Assistant: Ethan Elsenburg
Executive Producer: Karen Rose

New episodes available on Fridays. Listen first on BBC Sounds

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Something to Declare (m0025w1t)
Jack Boswell explores how other cultures handle the universal problems we face at home.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0025w1w)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0025w1y)
Solstice by Rachel Dawson

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the author Rachel Dawson. Read by Emmy Stonelake.

Rohan's best mate Elise is starting a cult. As if A-Levels, UCAS applications and a crush on her friend Sadia wasn't enough, now she's got ancient rituals on her to-do list.

Writer: Rachel Dawson
Reader: Emmy Stonelake
Producer: Alice McKee

A BBC Audio Wales and West Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0025w20)
Weekly obituary programme telling the life stories of those who have died recently.


FRI 16:30 Life Changing (m0025w22)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m0025w24)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0025w26)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m0025w28)
Series 1

Episode 3

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

Host Andrew Hunter Murray (No Such Thing As A Fish, QI Elf, Private Eye) and chief correspondent Amy Hoggart will strip away the curtain and dive into not only the big stories, but also at the way in which the news is packaged and presented.

From award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Sarah Dempster
Gareth Ceredig
Jason Hazeley
Adam Macqueen
Louis Mian

with Additional Material

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer

Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0025w2b)
Writer: Tim Stimpson
Director: Dave Payne
Editor: Jeremy Howe

David Archer…. Timothy Bentinck
Jill Archer…. Patricia Greene
Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Ruth Archer…. Felicity Finch
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Leonard Berry…. Paul Copley
Alan Franks…. John Telfer
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m0025w2d)
Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe create a playlist no computer could.


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0025w2g)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0025w2j)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m0025w2l)
Luck, predictability and superstition

Shahidha Bari and guests discuss luck, fortune and superstition. How much truth is there in the idea of making your own luck and why does supersition still play such an important part in many peoples' lives. To discuss this an more are: Dr Christian Busch author of the Serendipity Mindset, Bobby Seagull the maths wizard who shot to fame on University Challenge, Timandra Harkness the author and journalist who writes about the intersection of tech and society, Dr Kate Thomas a philosopher and spritiual mentor and the Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies who shares her thoughts on the role luck plays in sport.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0025w2n)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


FRI 22:45 Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (m0025w2q)
10: 'Our revels are now ended.'

The eagerly awaited new novel from Booker Prize-winning author, Alan Hollinghurst.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen when he wins a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie ahead, despite the vicious bullying of his wealthy classmates. Worst of these is the brutish Giles Hadlow, whose parents sponsored the scholarship and who seem to prefer Dave to their ruthless son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s through to the Pandemic: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture; a talented actor on the road with an experimental theatre company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England threatens Dave’s own stability. And finally, as the Covid Pandemic hits, the two men’s lives and values will collide in a cruel shock of violence.

Today: Dave and Richard's contented life together is shattered by a cruel act of violence...

Reader: Steve John Shepherd and David Hounslow
Writer: Alan Hollinghurst
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


FRI 23:00 Americast (m0025w2s)
Join the Americast team for insights from across the US.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0025w2v)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament