SATURDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002htfd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Life Chances (m000sbfg)
Achieving for All

20 years ago, journalist Athar Ahmad walked through the gates of his secondary school in west London. The school was what everyone in the area described as a ‘rough’ school but its students all felt as though they faced many of the same challenges and went through many of the same experiences.

But three of Athar’s classmates wouldn’t make it to the age he is now.

In this raw and personal series, Athar asks why the lives of his classmates went down such different paths and why three of them ended up dead - murdered brutally and violently.

As Athar tries to make sense of what happened, he explores issues around multiculturalism, identity and life for communities in the UK, told through the prism of a school at the crossroads of modern Britain.

Presenter: Athar Ahmad
Producer: Georgia Catt


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002htfg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002htfj)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:30 News Summary (m002htfl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002htfn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002htfq)
Oh for a sat-nav!

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning

Just five hundred and thirty-three years ago today, Christopher Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands. I think he’d have a huge entourage of ships, men and supplies and that he’d have spent ages before that date, planning his journey. He hoped to find a new route to Asia, not realising that there was a huge continent in the way! Christopher missed Florida because he changed course a bit and landed instead on one of the islands we now know as the Bahamas. But of course, that was just the beginning of a whole new exploration.

They do say ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans’ and how often have I made all sorts of grand plans, only to find them turned on their heads in a way I couldn’t possibly have imagined.

A passionate fan of the film ‘The sound of Music’, keen choir member and pianist, before I was married, I planned that my children – would be just like the Von Trapp family, all dressed in the same little outfits, made out of old curtains, singing in sweet harmony around me.

Well, there are three children and they all love music but my daughter sings only in the shower; son number one has made a living out of something called Drum’n’Bass – quite a long and very noisy way from the sweet arias I envisaged and son number two plays the drums with a rock band in his spare time.

Lord God, Support us when our plans don’t work out the way we hoped and help us to make the most of the new route you offer.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m002305h)
18. The Night the Earth Shook

In a small Italian city nestled in the Apennine mountains, a series of low level tremors are setting nerves on edge. Is this just a passing phase, or a prelude to something far more devastating?

Producer: Ilan Goodman
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002j5hl)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m002ht25)
Pingos and Pool Frogs

Martha Kearney discovers the Ice Age ponds in Norfolk, called pingos, which are being brought back to life, and provide a home for the Northern Pool Frog. It's the UK's rarest amphibian and had become extinct in this country, but it's now breeding there again and Martha is keen to see one. With 400 pingos, Thompson Common is the most important site for pond wildlife in the country and also holds a precious store of seeds.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust:
https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ThompsonCommon

Find out more about The Pingo Trail Walk:
https://www.explorenorfolkuk.co.uk/pingo-trail.html

Producer: Beth O'Dea


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002j5hn)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002j5hq)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002j5hs)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002j5hv)
Michael Rosen

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


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002j5hx)
Marie Antoinette: last French queen before the Revolution

Greg Jenner is joined in the eighteenth century by historian Professor Katherine Astbury and comedian Jen Brister to learn about French queen Marie Antoinette. Born an Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette went on to be the last queen of France before the Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy. She is famous now for saying "let them eat cake", for her love of fashion, and her supposedly extravagant spending at a time when ordinary people in France were going hungry. But how true are any of these stories, and where did these myths about her originate? In this episode, we look at Marie Antoinette’s Austrian childhood and overbearing mother, her marriage to Louis XVI and time as queen of France, and the hatred directed at her by the revolutionaries. Along the way we take in her involvement in politics, her love of the theatre, and her possible Swedish sweetheart.

If you’re a fan of radicals and revolutionaries, maligned women from history and royal scandals, you’ll love our episode on Marie Antoinette.

If you want more from Jen Brister, check out our episodes on Emma of Normandy and Hernán Cortés and Malintzin. Or for controversial French queens, listen to our episode on Catherine de’Medici.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw
Written by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002j5hz)
Series 49

Episode 3

Jay Rayner hosts a culinary panel show packed full of tasty titbits.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002j5j1)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002j5j3)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002j5j5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002j5j7)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002hv77)
Series 118

Episode 1

Topical panel quiz show, taking its questions from the week's news stories.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002j5j9)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002j5jc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002htdy)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002j5jf)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002htdt)
WRITER: Katie Hims
DIRECTOR: Pip Swallow
EDITOR: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge.... Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Tom Archer.... William Troughton
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Martyn Gibson.... Jon Glover
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
Chelsea Horrobin.... Madeleine Leslay
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Zainab Malik.... Priyasasha Kumari
Stella Pryor.... Lucy Speed
Lynda Snell.... Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling.... Michael Cochrane
Lawrence.... Rupert Vansittart


SAT 15:00 The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (m000v2mf)
1. Symptoms

Young Hugh Casthorpe goes on a short visit to a sanatorium in the mountains, and finds that he cannot leave.

Is it because he has a respiratory disease which the sanatorium is supposed to cure, or is it because he has fallen helplessly in love with another patient, a beautiful married woman?

Either way, Hugh becomes a long-term patient.

Trapped on this enchanted and sinister mountain, Hugh meets and learns from his fellow patients, gets acquainted with another constant companion, Death, and explores the dark and dangerous aspects of love.

Thomas Mann’s novel is a literary icon, a tragi-comedy, a masterpiece of deep thought, sly irony, sex, love and death.

Written from a translation by John E Woods

Dramatised by Robin Brooks

Narrator ..... Lucy Robinson
Hugh Casthorpe ..... Luke Thallon
James Simpson ..... Hugh Skinner
Doctor Crowmarsh ..... Sandy Grierson
Professor Jones ..... Richard Harrington
Clauda Civet ..... Genevieve Gaunt
Edie Robinson ..... Keziah Joseph
Marjorie ..... Georgina Strawson
Stour ..... Ed Jones

Sound Design by Alisdair McGregor

Produced by Fiona McAlpine

An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5jh)
Highlights from the Woman's Hour week


SAT 17:00 PM (m002j5jk)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002j5jm)
Nick Robinson talks to people who shape our political thinking about what shaped theirs.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002j5jp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002j5jr)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5jt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002j5jw)
Robert Webb, Cecelia Ahern, Patrick Marber, Curtis Stigers, Nova Twins

Clive Anderson is joined by the multi-platinum selling American Jazz singer Curtis Stigers, Rob Webb on Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping, best-selling Irish novelist Cecila Ahern, author of P.S I Love you, on her new book Paper Heart, director Patrick Marber discusses his spin on Mel Brook's musical The Producers and Mercury prize shortlisted rock duo Nova Twins.

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Jessica Treen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002j5jy)
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002ht1k)
Alison Balsom

Classical trumpeter Alison Balsom talks to John Wilson about the most significant influences and experiences that have inspired her career. Having recorded 17 studio albums since 2002, she has been named Gramophone Artist of the Year, won three Classical Brit Awards, along with an OBE for services to music. She has performed with leading conductors and orchestras around the world, including at the Last Night of the Proms.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002j5k0)
Pauline Cutting: Surgery Under Siege

A small Palestinian refugee camp became the scene of a harrowing siege in 1985 amidst the Lebanon war. Bourj al-Barajneh was cut off from food, water and medical supplies while surrounded by the Amal militia with its residents under constant threat from bullets and shelling.
Dr Pauline Cutting was a young surgeon who travelled to Lebanon to treat the wounded but instead found herself trapped and operating by torchlight under devastating conditions.
Using a radio powered by a car battery to speak to the BBC, she brought global attention to the plight they were facing.
Saleyha Ahsan meets Dr Cutting in her home in North Wales to recount those six months under siege and the many lives she and her team saved.
Presenter and co-producer: Saleyha Ahsan
Co-producer: Jay Behrouzi
Executive Producer: Richard McIlroy
A BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m002hv3t)
Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.


SAT 22:00 News (m002j5k2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002htcn)
Manx Made

Jaega Wise visits the Isle of Man to discover how the island is creating a distinctive food culture - one that feeds locals, entices visitors and can be marketed on the mainland.

Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


SAT 23:00 Icklewick FM (m002j5k4)
Series 2

2. The Tenner

Icklewick comes down with a bout of Royal fever when the town’s first King Charles tenner is discovered by serial hotline botherer, Pat. When the patriotism inevitably turns sour, Chris and Amy are forced to intervene in order to prevent Simon from leading a home invasion. The gang also speak to Icklewick’s unluckiest resident.

Icklewick FM is created and written by Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill, with additional material from the cast.

Starring:
Amy Gledhill
Chris Cantrill
Mark Silcox
Colin Hoult
Janice Connolly
Phil Ellis
Lucy Beaumont
Shivani Thussu
Jin Hao Li
Tom Burgess
Nicola Redman
Tai Campbell
Em Humble
James Carbutt

Series Artwork by Sam O'Leary

Music, sound design and additional material by Jack Lewis Evans.
Line Produced by Laura Shaw
Produced by Benjamin Sutton.
A Daddy’s Superyacht production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Nature Table (m001ghys)
Series 3

Episode 5

Celebrating the natural world and all it's funny eccentricities.

Taking the simple format of a 'Show & Tell', in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet's wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at The Eden Project.

In this episode, Sue welcomes:

* Wildlife Conservationist Jaclyn Pearson
* Lepidopterist Marcus Rhodes
* Comedian Edward Rowe

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts.

Additional material by Kat Sadler.

Producer Simon Nicholls.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.

SUNDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5k6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002htxv)
Melissa Lucashenko

Goorie author Melissa Lucashenko joins Take Four Books from the Edinburgh International Book Festival to discuss her novel, Edenglassie.

The three books that inspired the creation of Edenglassie are: Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland (1904), The Bone People by Keri Hulme (1985), and The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (2008).

The supporting contributor for this episode is Rodge Glass, a lecturer in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, where he also teaches post-colonial literature.

Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5k8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5kc)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:30 News Summary (m002j5kf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5kh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002j5kk)
All Saints Church, Daresbury in Cheshire

Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church, Daresbury in Cheshire. The parish is the birthplace of the author Lewis Carroll, whose father, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, was vicar there. One of the stained glass windows includes characters from the book ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’. There are eight bells all cast by the Warner foundry of Cripplegate, London in 1913. The tenor bell weighs sixteen and one quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E. We hear them ringing rounds and call changes.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002htvr)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002j5m1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct5tgm)
The mosque for Bangladesh’s transgender women

In Bangladesh, hijras - once a revered community - have long lived on the margins. Also known as the third gender, hijras form a diverse group, including those born intersex - meaning their physical traits don’t fit neatly into ‘male’ or ‘female’ categories - and transgender individuals. Traditionally seen as spiritual figures with the power to bless or curse, they are now outcasts, denied homes, jobs, and opportunities. But in a quiet village in Mymensingh, a spiritual revolution is taking place.

Reporter Sahar Zand has gained rare access to this community, spending time with its leader, Tanu - a transgender woman and practising Muslim - who has built a sanctuary where hijras can reconnect with faith. At the heart of this transformation is a Quran study group, offering hijras the religious education they were long denied, and a newly built mosque - the first in Bangladesh to welcome them as equals, after they were expelled from others. With the help of an imam who risked everything to stand by them, they are reclaiming their right to Islam.

But as religious conservatism rises, so do the threats against them. Their village is no longer just a refuge; it is the frontline of a battle for acceptance. Can faith be the key to breaking barriers, or will they be forced back into the shadows?

[Photo Credit: Rashi studying the Quran photo by Sahar Zand]

Producer/presenter: Sahar Zand
Executive producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production coordinator: Mica Nepomucen


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002j5m3)
Insects to the Rescue

Hugh Lowe Farms in Kent has been growing soft fruit for over one hundred years and has been run by the same family since the late 19th century. The business now operates on a vast scale, producing 250 tonnes of strawberries a week, as well as raspberries and blackberries. It also has arable land, salad crops, meadows and woodland. Charlotte Smith visits the farm, which is between Sevenoaks and Maidstone, to meet the fourth and fifth generations of this farming family and find out why insects have become such a central part of their fruit-growing operation. As well as encouraging creatures like hoverflies and ladybirds by leaving wild areas on the field margins, they also buy in boxes of native insects to introduce into the polytunnels. These are carefully chosen for their ability to eat the pest insects which damage the fruit, so reducing the need for chemical pesticide. She also hears about high-tech detection devices which have been installed on the farm to monitor insect populations.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002j5m5)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002j5m7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002j5m9)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
Race Against Dementia

Ambassador Christian Hewgill makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Race Against Dementia. The charity, founded by Sir Jackie Stewart, funds research scientists who are working to find preventative treatments and cures for dementia.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week. Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0755 for 7 days.
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 ‘Race Against Dementia’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Race Against Dementia’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Please ensure you are donating to the correct charity by checking the name of the charity on the donate page.

Registered Charity Number: 1165559. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.raceagainstdementia.com
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002j5mf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002j5mh)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002j5mk)
Saints and Song

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship” - St Thomas Aquinas

This famous quote from the Dominican Friar, St Thomas Aquinas, touches on a deep truth; friends bring meaning to our lives in a myriad of ways. Though friendship is often overlooked, for many it not only provides essential support and comfort, it also has a spiritual significance. Fr Matthew Jarvis, reflects on the relationship between friendship and the sacred and explores the important role it it has on the path to sainthood.

As the canonisations of two new saints, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, and Blessed Carlo Acutis, happen in Rome, Fr Matthew focusses on how their devotion to God and to their friends, set these young men apart.

This year also marks the 500th Anniversary of the birth of the composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Recognised as one of the most influential composers of the late Renaissance, his music expresses a rich theology, as different voices interweave to create polyphonic lines. The Southwell Consort sing music by Palestrina and some of his contemporaries, in this service from St Dominic's Priory - The Rosary Shrine in London.

MUSIC:
Salve Regina
Dominican Rite

Sanctus from Missa Puer Natus
Thomas Tallis

Adoro Te Devote
Metrical Chant

Ave Maria
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Agnus Dei from Missa Brevi
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Sacris Solemniis
John Sheppard

Sing We of the Blessed Mother
Tune: Abbots Leigh

Leader: Fr Matthew Jarvis OP
Choir: The Southwell Consort
Directors of Music: Dominic Bevan and William Dawes
Organist: Martin Stacey

Producer: Katharine Longworth


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74jg)
The 'Turbot War'

In 1995, an international row broke out between Canada and Spain over fishing quotas. It started with gunfire and ended with a deal.

The dispute began after Canada set up restrictions to protect fish stocks, including the turbot. A 320km (200 mile) controlled zone was placed around the country’s north Atlantic coast. Fishermen also had to stick to quotas.

But, according to Canada, some boats from the European Union were catching far more turbot than had been agreed.

As a warning, the coastguard chased off one Spanish trawler, shooting machine gunfire over the bow and arresting the crew.

But Spanish officials were furious and denied any wrongdoing. The Turbot War had begun.

Brian Tobin was Canada’s Minister for Fisheries and Oceans. He tells Jane Wilkinson about the part he played in the dispute.

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.

(Picture: Brian Tobin and a turbot. Credit: Jon Levy/AFP via Getty Images)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002j5mp)
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about birds inspired by their calls, songs and behaviour.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002j5mt)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Reunion (m002j5my)
Women's Rugby

For decades, Rugby was a macho male sport. Misogyny was practically part of its DNA. The drinking culture, the casual attitude to sexism, and the back of the bus songs which seemed to be centred around breasts and female genitalia came with the territory.

No-one at the sport's governing level seemed to care either. Repeated attempts to get recognition for women’s players were casually rejected and, despite a history dating back to the late 19th century, women’s rugby failed to thrive.

Then, in 1991, it all changed with the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup in South Wales featuring 16 nations. That was followed in 1994 by a hastily arranged tournament in Scotland.

The players who played in those tournaments can rightly call themselves pioneers. They begged and borrowed kit, trained around their work, and often had to play on long abandoned back fields. They proudly wore the badge of their country and competed on the big stage.

Kirsty Wark is joined by four of those ground-breaking England women rugby players - Sue Dorrington, Mary Forsyth, Deborah Griffin and Alice Cooper, one of the founders of the 1994 Scotland tournament Sue Brodie, plus England player Giselle Mather, Wales international Amanda Bennett and former England men’s international Brian Moore.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002j5n1)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002j5jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m002hxsr)
Series 95

3. It's what Emily Brontë would have wanted

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Paterson Joseph and Rachel Parris to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include my perfect first date, when I was staying at The White Lotus and I'm in a WhatsApp group with Sue Perkins.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Additional material by Eve Delaney

An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002j5n3)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002j5n5)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002j5n8)
Corn Belt People

Amid the crowds and bustle of the 2025 Iowa State Fair, Anna Jones takes the temperature of rural Iowans almost a year into Trump's second term. Anna finds out how the farming constituency - largely Trump supporting in 2024 - are feeling about global trade tariffs and promises to Make America Great Again. She explores their perceptions of America's position in the world - and how they feel the rest of the world views the rural Midwest.

Produced and presented by Anna Jones for BBC Audio Bristol


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002htd6)
Eden Project

Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m00201sp)
Kafka's The Trial

John Yorke explores the enduring mystery and power of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.

All Joseph K was expecting when he awoke was breakfast. Instead he is arrested for a nameless crime and finds his life gradually, utterly consumed by the process. Set in a nameless city very like the twisting alleyways and cramped confines of Kafka’s Prague, the book was only published after the writer’s death. Since then, it has become a world famous tale of unending, indefinable bureaucratic unease.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he 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. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods.

As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters

Contributors:
Professor Carolin Duttlinger-Co-director of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre
Ed Harris - Playwright who has adapted Kafka's work for a major season on BBC Radio 4

Readings from The Trial by Franz Kafka trans. Mike Mitchell (Oxford World's Classic 2009)

Reader: Jack Klaff
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound Designer: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Mark Burman
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m00201sr)
Franz Kafka - The Trial

On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K is arrested. But his crime is not revealed.

In attempting to establish his innocence, K steps into a nightmarish world of institutional absurdity he can’t escape.

The most quintessentially ‘Kafkaesque’ of Kafka’s work, The Trial is a sinister satire, charting one man’s descent into self-destruction in the face of a society that has become a machine. This daring, debauched and darkly comic adaptation is written by award-winning dramatist Ed Harris.

CAST (in order of appearance)
K ..... Iwan Rheon
Franz/Albert ..... Phil Davis
Willem/Magistrate ..... Lee Ross
Mrs Godbee ..... Nina Wadia
Eliška/Supervisor ..... Celeste Dring
Edmund ..... Rick Warden
Thrasher ..... Jason Barnett
Dr Huld ..... Adrian Scarborough
Leni ..... Gwyneth Keyworth
Block ..... Mark Heap

Dramatist ..... Ed Harris
Director ..... Anne Isger
Sound ..... Pete Ringrose and Keith Graham
Production Co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Daniel Bishop
A BBC Studios Audio Production

With thanks to Abigail Le Fleming for playing the recorder.

Ed Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, DOT. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include STRANGERS LIKE ME (National Theatre Connections), MONGREL ISLAND (Soho Theatre), NEVER EVER AFTER (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and WHAT THE THUNDER SAID (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m002j5nb)
Led by James Naughtie, readers talk to acclaimed authors about their best-known novels.


SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m001gk81)
Series 3

Episode 6

Celebrating the natural world and all it's funny eccentricities.

Taking the simple format of a 'Show & Tell', in each episode Sue Perkins is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history.

Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet's wonderfully wild flora and fauna in a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.

Recorded at ZSL London Zoo.

In this episode, Sue welcomes:

* Lead Keeper at ZSL London Zoo Jessica Jones
* Fungarium Curator at Kew Gardens Lee Davies
* Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi

Written by Catherine Brinkworth, Jon Hunter, Jenny Laville and Nicky Roberts

Additional material by Kat Sadler.

Producer Simon Nicholls.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74q5)
President Clinton plays the sax in Prague

In January 1994, two presidents enjoyed a memorable night in the Czech Republic – ending with an impromptu jazz performance.

Five years after the fall of communism, the US president Bill Clinton visited Prague to share his hopes for a new transatlantic alliance.

Key to his vision was his friendship with the Czech president Vaclav Havel, a playwright who had been imprisoned for dissidence during the Cold War.

During the visit, Havel arranged a series of surprises for Clinton including a reunion with the family he had stayed with on a visit to Prague in 1970.

The final surprise took place at the city’s famous Reduta jazz club. Havel presented Clinton with a saxophone and the two friends performed together on stage – a moment which came to symbolise the new partnership between East and West.

Vicky Farncombe uses archive from the Vaclav Havel Center and the William J Clinton Presidential Library to relive the big night out.

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: Presidents perform at the Reduta jazz club. Credit: Office of the President of the Czech Republic)


SUN 17:10 En-Gulfed (m002gqft)
Culture Capture?

BAFTA winning activist and satirist Heydon Prowse gives a personal take on how and why the Gulf States are so interested in British culture.

From cash-strapped theatres and museums to huge infrastructure projects, Gulf money is a key ingredient across our cultural landscape. What does this mean to us and what’s in it for them? Critics cry ‘culture washing’ but is this really what’s going on and should we care?

Written and presented by Heydon Prowse
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002j5nf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002j5nh)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5nk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002j5nm)
Naomi Alderman

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002j5np)
There's a surprise for the cricket team and Brad goes too far


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002j5nr)
The Cat Killer Detectives

When decapitated cats start appearing in South London, animal rescue duo Boudicca Rising and Tony Jenkins spring into action. They’ll do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this mystery.

It’s 2015 and the two volunteers running the South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) Facebook page, stumble upon a vet’s poster telling locals to keep their pets safe as there have been a series of “mutilations” in the area.

When Boudicca and Tony share the vet’s warning, they’re flooded with messages from pet owners saying something similar has happened to their cats.

Boudicca and Tony convince the police to launch Operation Takahe, an investigation into the “Croydon Cat Killer.”

Far from stepping back, Boudicca and Tony find themselves at the centre of the operation; investigating “crime scenes,” breaking bad news to pet owners and being interviewed by press. The case takes over their lives.

Presented and produced by Natasha Fernandes
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound design: James Beard


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0016xq7)
Eccentric Exercise

In this episode, Michael reveals how the part of your workout that often feels easier - running downhill after a brutal run up to the peak, or lowering down weights rather than lifting them up - is one of the quickest ways to improve your strength and enhance your workout. It’s the flip side of a lot of movements you’ve already been focused on. To find out more, he speaks to Prof Tony Kay at the University of Northampton who delves into the bizarre benefits of Eccentric Exercise. He reveals why the muscle-lengthening phase of exercise is more effective than the muscle-contracting phase… and how lengthening your muscles is the key to stronger muscles, bones, a healthier heart, and could even help burn more calories than a seemingly tougher workout when you’re finished.


SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m002ht29)
How to Persuade a Courtroom

Michael Rosen talks to defence barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind about the language of a criminal court case. From the grandeur of the courtroom and stock phrases like "with respect to my learned friend" to the colloquial directness of talking to an accused defendant as they sit in their cell. How do barristers build persausive arguments – and how do they tear down the arguments of their opposition? Do some barristers hide bad arguments behind elaborate language? Do the best barristers expose it with the most naked, stripped back language? And how does a barrister decide how to deliver their words? The tone, the pace, the performance.

Produced in partnership with The Open University for BBC Audio Bristol by Becky Ripley.

Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002htdg)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002j5j7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002j5j3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002j5nt)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Artworks (m002ht1c)
What Happened to Counter-Culture?

04/09/2025

Stewart Lee explores the story and ideas of counter-culture and its importance today.


SUN 23:30 The History Podcast (m0024bgf)
The Lucan Obsession

9. A Race Across the World

Our interest in Lord Lucan could have petered out after the inquest. But people start to spot him all over the world. Could he really have escaped the UK?

Alex von Tunzelmann explores what role this idea plays in our fixation with the Lucan case.

She hears how the media kept the story going, inventing sightings for copy and jollies abroad. People admit to elaborate hoaxes and blatantly fabricating stories.

But should we dismiss the idea? Alex finds one story from a closed police file that completely bowls her over.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002htdb)
Kindnesses by David Constantine

An original short story for Radio 4 from David Constantine, winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.

In a nameless town, two very different men, both struggling and lost from society, find solace in small acts of kindness...

Readers: Jason Barnett and Sam Dale
Writer: David Constantine is an acclaimed poet and writer, best known for his critically acclaimed collections of short stories, including Tea at the Midland. He is the winner of both the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.
Producer: Justine Willett

MONDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5nw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002htvt)
Galicia’s wild horses in peril

Europe’s largest herd of wild horses, in north-west Spain, is under threat. Numbers have halved in the last fifty years. Now around ten thousand wild horses roam freely in the hills and mountains of Galicia. But they are facing a number of challenges, not least the loss of their habitat and the threat from their main predator, wolves. There are also legal demands imposed by the regional government which have placed added financial burdens on the local people who, in effect, “own” these horses. And yet Galicia’s wild horses have been an integral part of the local culture for centuries, particularly during annual festivals known as “rapas das bestas,” the shearing of the beasts. The horses are also known as engineers of the landscape, credited with boosting the local flora and fauna and with helping to control forest fires.
John Murphy travels to Galicia to hear what is happening to these extraordinary animals and why they are so important.

Producer and presenter: John Murphy
Co-producer and translator: Esperanza Escribano
Programme co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Programme Mix: Eloise Whitmore
Crossing Continents editor: Penny Murphy


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002j5kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ny)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5p0)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m002j5p2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5p4)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5p6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5p8)
Remembering Queen Elizabeth

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning.

I find it hard to believe that it’s three years since our dear Queen Elizabeth died. I am now quite used to praying for Charles our King in church services but, at the same time, I had to check that it was actually three years and not two or even one, since we came home from holiday on September the eighth to a changed world.

It hit me personally because I’d had the amazing experience of being a Chaplain to Her Majesty and had met the Queen on a number of occasions, astonished, always, that she knew who I was.

When I received the letter inviting me to be one of thirty-six honorary chaplains, I honestly thought that some friends were having a laugh, knowing how much I love the Royals, so I phoned Buckingham Palace to make sure. Yes, said a kind lady, you’ll get a badge and a bright red cassock and you’ll preach in a Royal chapel once a year. And I did that and I attended garden parties and other jollies for eleven years, ‘til it was someone else’s turn to have that weird and wonderful privilege.

But maybe the loveliest outcome of this experience is that my name’s in Who’s Who, the directory of people of note, and it says Easter, Ann Rosemarie, born Upton Park, daughter of Harry Easter and Audrey, nee Boater. And that’s extraordinary! My dear parents would never, ever have imagined themselves in Who’s Who. But the Queen had that effect on people, making them feel valued.

Lord God, help us today to make those around us feel special.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5pb)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002j5pd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002j5q5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002j5q7)
Arundhati Roy and maternal inheritance

The Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy looks back at her foremost influences in her memoir, Mother Mary Comes To Me. While her writing and activism are shaped by early circumstances – both financial and political – at the centre is her relationship with her mother, who she describes as ‘my shelter and my storm’.

The poet Sarah Howe won the TS Eliot prize for poetry for her debut collection, Loop of Jade. In her new work, Foretokens, she returns to the complex inheritance of family and language, as she tries to piece together the fragmentary, often mythical, early life of her Chinese mother, given away at birth.

The academic Lea Ypi travels through the history of Ottoman aristocracy to the making of modern Albania and the early days of communism as she attempts to retrace the life of her beloved grandmother. In her new book, Indignity: A Life Reimagined, she reveals the fragility of truth, as her own memories collide with secret police reports and newly discovered photographs.

Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002j5q9)
Saving stitches

Co-founder of social enterprise Stitch the Gap, Amanda Stark, tells Rachel Burden how they affect environmental change by teaching sewing skills to reduce waste and save money. Amanda is passionate that this life-long skill is not lost for future generations. She runs classes for all ages and bereavement workshops where people can use a loved one's clothing to make a memory bear.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they’re doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip, and celebrating the people making the world a better place.

We’re all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community, or it might be about trying to make one life a little bit easier. And the key here is in the trying. This is real life. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it’s always worth a go.

You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Uma Doraiswamy
Sound Design: Nicky Edwards
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Clare Fordham


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5qc)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 The Great Influencer Experiment (m002j5qf)
Canaries in the Mine

Influencers once defined social media — polished, aspirational, and easy to dismiss. But a quiet shift is underway as the influencer era gives way to the “creator economy”, where talent, rawness and authenticity are at the fore. People sharing niche passions are now building followings in the millions and turning their interests into livelihoods. But can this new world really deliver on its promise — or is success still reserved for the lucky few? To find out, reporter Osman Iqbal recruits three online rookies: Emily, a potter and stroke survivor, Alun, a beard historian and Danyah, a veteran theatre performer. Each has talent, each has a story, but all are social media novices.

Will authenticity and creativity be enough to cut through in a world controlled by algorithms? Or will the lure of visibility and the pressure to perform overwhelm them before they’ve even begun?

Presenter: Osman Iqbal 
Editor: Matt Willis 
Sound: Tony Churnside 
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown


MON 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5qj)
Episode 1: Fugitives

This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.

This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’

Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.

In this first episode, Arundhati Roy tells the story of how, at the age of 30, her mother leaves her husband. She and her two young children – Arundhati and her brother - live in a dank holiday cottage which used to belong to her mother’s father. Mary Roy’s health deteriorates and she spends most of her time in bed, leaving the children to run wild and make friends with strangers. But then Arundhati’s uncle arrives to evict them – as a woman, he claims, Mary Roy has no right of inheritance.

Read by Shaheen Khan

Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver

Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002j5qm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002j5qp)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002j5qr)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002j5qt)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j5qw)
The Fort

1. The Plan

Afghanistan, January 2007.

It's a piece of military daring that went down in history: Royal Marines hold on to the side of Apache attack helicopters, heading into battle to recover a fallen comrade.

With many speaking for the first time, those involved in a gripping, almost unbelievable day, tell their story.

It begins with British forces, tasked with bringing security to Helmand Province in the South of Afghanistan.

But Colonel Rob Magowan commanding the IX Battlegroup has a problem.

Jugroom Fort.

The Taliban command and control centre is a crucial route for enemy fighters making their way in from Pakistan. They train there. They rearm there. Jugroom Fort is the launchpad for attacks on British troops.

But a bold plan to occupy the ancient stronghold with the battle-hardened Royal Marines of Zulu Company is about to meet intense resistance.

And amid a gruelling firefight, a man is left behind.

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.

Produced by Kev Core


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002j5np)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Believe It! (m0017v6n)
Series 6

Holiday

This is the sixth series of Jon Canter's "radiography" of Richard Wilson - exploring elements of Richard's life that are very nearly true.
Expect visits from David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen, Arabella Weir and Stephen Mangan to name but four.

Richard Wilson decides to hold the party to end all parties. But who will be invited? And will they come? And who's doing the canapés?

Written by Jon Canter

Starring

Richard Wilson
Sir Ian McKellen
Arabella Weir
Jos Vantyler
Roberto

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell (m0019kkx)
Episode 4

Evan S. Connell's Mrs Bridge is an extraordinary tragicomic portrayal of suburban life and one of the classic American novels of the 20th century.

Mrs Bridge, a conservative housewife in Missouri, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. Her married life begins in the early 1930s – and soon after she and her young family move to a wealthy country club suburb of Kansas City. She spends her time shopping, going to bridge parties and bringing up her children to be pleasant, clean and have nice manners. The qualities that she values above all else. And yet she finds modern life increasingly baffling, her children aren't growing up into the people she expected, and sometimes she has the vague disquieting sensation that all is not well in her life.

In a series of comic, telling vignettes, Evan S. Connell illuminates the narrow morality, confusion, futility and even terror at the heart of a life of plenty.

First published in 1959 it was perhaps overshadowed by the critical attention paid to contemporaries like Philip Roth and John Updike - although Mrs Bridge was a finalist for the National Book Award in that year. Ten years later Connell published Mr Bridge which follows that same events largely from the point of view of Walter Bridge. In 1990, James Ivory directed the film Mr and Mrs Bridge based on both novels and starring Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward. Fans of the book today include the novelist David Nicholls and Tracey Thorne, author and singer.

Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Evan S Connell
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002j5qz)
Jock Stein, first British football manager to win the European Cup

Jock Stein, first British football manager to win the European Cup, picked by composer Sir James MacMillan and aided by Jock Stein’s biographer, Archie MacPherson. Jock Stein was manager of Celtic FC when they won the European Cup in Lisbon in 1967. He later died while managing Scotland in a world cup qualifier against Wales – the date, September 1985, exactly forty years ago.

"I saw in my grandfather and my father certain characteristics that I saw in Jock Stein." Sir James MacMillan

Includes archive of Jock Stein, Gordon Strachan and Billy Connolly, a big fan of the European Cup winning Celtic team.

Archie MacPherson is the author of Jock Stein: The Definitive Autobiography, and a familiar face to viewers of Scottish football in the eighties and nineties and beyond. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde


MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002j5hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002j5n8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002j5hz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002j5r1)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5r3)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002j5r5)
Series 95

4. What's that wonderful smell?

Sue Perkins challenges Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks, Emma Sidi and Desiree Burch to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Dame Maggie Smith, my favourite pizza topping and Wimbledon.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Additional material by Eve Delaney

An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002j5r7)
There's light at the end of the tunnel for Adam and Pip has reservations


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002j5r9)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 Rethink (m002ht2c)
Rethink...the meaning of terrorism

What is terrorism?

Without doubt, it is a pejorative term; few people would ever want to be called a terrorist, and when the word terrorism is attached to a belief system, it delegitimises it in the eyes of the public.

It's an emotive word with severe consequences for any individual or group given the label. Virtually everybody agrees that being a terrorist is not a good thing and that the law must seriously punish them.

But there isn't an agreed international definition of what terrorism is.

The UK has a legal definition, but it differs from other western democracies. When does property damage become a terror offence? How do police officers decide the difference between support for a cause and membership of a proscribed organisation? Should individuals without an ideology who plan or commit mass murders be considered terrorists? Are UK anti-terror laws too broad, or too narrow? And can violence by states be counted as terrorism?

Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Lisa Baxter

Contributors:
José Ángel Gascón, Professor of Argumentation in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Murcia
Jonathan Hall KC, UK Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
Nick Aldworth, Threat, risk & security strategist, former Detective Chief Superintendent and National Coordinator in Counter Terrorism Policing.
Leonie Jackson, Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Northumbria University, and author of " What is Counterterrorism For?"
Richard English, Professor of Politics at Queen's University Belfast, and author of Does Counter-Terrorism Work?

Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002ht2f)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002j5q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002j5q9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j5rc)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j5rf)
Episode Six

Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Blasts from the Megaphone (m001w8zg)
It’s one of the most instinctive of human actions - to cup our hands around our mouths in order to amplify our voices - and the megaphone has been doing the same job for us for centuries.

The poet Paul Farley wants to listen back through history to the megaphone’s many and various echoes, finding out where and when it’s been put to use.

He starts out in Ancient Greece and the birth of theatre - where masks not only transformed the look of actors, they also served to raise the volume of their voices so audiences could get their full quota of catharsis. From there, Paul travels to the northern seas of pre-Viking Europe where megaphones appear to have been used to keep oarsmen in time with one another.

Engineers of the industrial revolution honed the shape and quality of the megaphone, allowing artists, musicians, film directors, avant-garde poets - and marchers and protestors as well as the authorities standing against them - to raise their lips to the mouthpiece and belt out their voices loud and proud ever since.

Are these simple instruments, Paul wants to know, chiefly instruments of power or resistance, and do they succeed in raising the voices of the oppressed or finally just add to the impenetrable cacophony of modern life?

With special thanks to film historian, Kevin Brownlow.

Presented by Paul Farley
Produced by Geoff Bird
Executive Producer: Eloise Whitmore
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j5rh)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5rk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5qj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5rm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5rr)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m002j5rt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5rw)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ry)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5s0)
Grandparents then and now

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning.

I was delighted to learn that, in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches, today we celebrate Saint Joachim, husband of Saint Anne, the parents of Mary, and grandparents of Jesus.

Anne and Joachim had had no children and they were getting on a bit so Joachim went and fasted in the desert for forty days, then met Anne at the Golden Gate in the wall of Jerusalem and, nine months later, Mary was born. There was an ancient belief that a child born of older parents was destined for great things – think of Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac – and certainly Joachim and Anne’s daughter Mary was a woman of courage.

But I’d like to think that Jesus was often looked after by his grandparents. I know it isn’t always possible but I do think that, where they are able, grandparents can add a very special extra layer of love and care into their grandchildren’s lives. My mother had multiple sclerosis so she and my father could not help practically, but my children were very close to my parents and would have long discussions about all sorts of subjects.

Maybe Joachim and Anne told Jesus stories about their childhoods and shared with him the long-held promise of God that, one day, a Messiah would come to show people the way of true peace.

Lord God, thank you for grandparents and the people who stand in for them. May we who are able to influence young people, guide them to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5s2)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002j6xx)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m002j5w8)
Mark O'Shea on close encounters with venomous snakes

How do you feel about snakes? What about highly venomous ones?

For Mark O’Shea, close encounters with the world’s most rare and deadly snakes are not only his profession, but his passion.
Mark is a Professor of Herpetology - the area of zoology focusing on reptiles and amphibians - at the University of Wolverhampton.

After dropping out of college in his teens, Mark's life could have taken a very different direction; but prompted by a fascination with reptiles that started with a childhood trip to the zoo, he's gone on to have a career spanning research, international expeditions and broadcasting. He's also worked with international medical teams, studying deadly species and helping to generate antidotes for some of the world’s deadliest venoms.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Mark reveals the challenges around generating antivenom for countries that need it, the pros and cons of keeping snakes as pets, and what you need to know if you ever get bitten...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor for BBC Studios


TUE 09:30 Universities Challenged (m002j6xz)
Tuition Impossible

Universities are in crisis. They're facing social and financial pressures that threaten to undermine the foundations they're built on, maybe even their very existence.
Sophia Smith Galer won Celebrity University Challenge last year as part of the Durham team. As the first in her family to go to university she's a big fan of higher education.
Now Sophia's asking the questions and they're big difficult questions for British Universities. Is a major university at risk of going bust and what happens if it does? It the battle for free speech tearing universities apart? And is a degree still worth it?
Over three episodes, Sophia speaks to students, staff and leaders across the higher education sector.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j6y2)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m002htdw)
Callum Au and Natalie Duncan and the beauty of brass

Trombonist, arranger and big band leader Callum Au, and composer, pianist and singer Natalie Duncan, are today's studio guests as they look for unexpected links that connect five disparate tracks. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from an early Adele classic to a reinterpretation of a Roberta Flack hit via a 15-minute reworking by Duke Ellington of one of his most celebrated works.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Chasing Pavements by Adele
Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington
Tuba mirum by Mozart
Back Together Again by Roberta Flack, ft Donny Hathaway
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees

Other music in this episode:

Krupastrophe by Callum Au & Louis Dowdeswell
Heaven by Emeli Sandé
Sinfonia 'Infernali' from L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack
Empty Chairs by Don McLean


TUE 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j6y4)
Episode 2: The Sliding-Folding School

This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.

This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’

Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.

In this second episode, Arundhati Roy tells the story of how her mother, who had left her alcoholic husband and is now homeless and penniless, manages to start a school, in two small halls belonging to the local Rotary Club. Arundhati and her brother become her pupils. The curriculum is somewhat eccentric:
‘Mrs Roy taught me Shakespeare, Kipling and A. A. Milne. She read me parts of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. And the opening passage of Lolita. She would slash through my compositions, mark me three out of ten, and write comments like “Horrible. Nonsense.” She taught me to write and resented the author I became.’

Read by Shaheen Khan

Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver

Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002j6y6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002j6yb)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002j6yg)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002j6yl)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j6yr)
The Fort

2. Everyone Volunteered

Lance Corporal Mathew Ford is missing behind enemy lines.

Commander of the Information Exploitation Battlegroup Colonel Rob Magowan is presented with a live drone feed revealing the location of the Royal Marine. And he's warm. But a ground rescue attempt heading straight back into the hornets' nest presents formidable danger.

Attack helicopter pilot Tom O'Malley has a plan - to fly in at speed with four armed marines on the sides of two Apaches. They will quickly grab Mathew and deliver him to safety from under the noses of the Taliban. But fuel is low and the clock is ticking.

They need an answer now.

And Colonel Rob Magowan says: "Do it."

But who will go? Captain Dave Rigg and Royal Marine Chris Fraser-Perry take up the story.

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces. Many are speaking for the first time.

Produced by Kev Core


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002j5r7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001fmxx)
Good Enough

By Georgia Fitch

Christine’s always been great at keeping everyone else happy (even if she says so herself). But caring for her two elderly parents isn’t easy, especially as one is an old party animal who thinks the world revolves around him. She’s got a lot on her plate. And the plate is spinning at 300mph. It won’t be long until her grip starts to slip.

A funny, frank and moving drama about caring for the elderly in the wake of a global pandemic.

CAST
Christine ….. Monica Dolan
Charlie ….. Michael Bertenshaw
Shaun ….. David Hounslow
Kobi ….. Kwabena Ansah
Lucy ….. Ella Harding
Linda ….. Chloë Sommer
Therapist ….. Joanna Monro
Paramedic ….. Jonathan Forbes

Written by Georgia Fitch
Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Pete Ringrose and Ali Craig
Production Co-ordination by Maggie Olgiati

A BBC Audio Production


TUE 15:00 Extreme (m0027h5z)
Peak Danger

8. Only The Mountain Knows

In the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed 11 lives, the surviving climbers leave K2 behind. As they do, they’re walking into a worldwide media frenzy.

Everyone wants to know what happened? What went wrong? And most of all - was it worth it?

A heartbroken Cecilie Skog tries to put her life back together and forge a new future.

Her fellow climbers deal with the trauma and fallout of what’s happened. Some of them will never return to the mountains again.

But will Cecilie?

Featuring climbers Cecilie Skog, Lars Nessa, Wilco van Rooijen, Pasang Lama, Fredrik Sträng, Eric Meyer, Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Kim Jae-Soo. Also featuring June Yoon as the voice of Kim Jae-Soo.

Special thanks to Fredrik Sträng for providing archival footage.

Host and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Producers: Leigh Meyer & Amalie Sortland
Editor: Josephine Wheeler
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander, with additional engineering from Daniel Kempson.
Original Music by Adam Foran, Theme music by Adam Foran and Silverhawk
Executive Producers: Max O’Brien & Craig Strachan
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Novel production for the BBC


TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vp5)
Freddie’s Second Verse

Freddie once signed to a major record label. He appeared in high-production music videos and looked set for fame. But the pressure and pace of that life left him feeling hollow. In one of the world’s busiest cities, he now follows a very different path - one built on silence, discipline, and spiritual growth.

Freddie reflects on his decision to leave the music industry behind and embrace Buddhism. He now works as a nail technician and shares how his beliefs shape his daily life. Alongside him is Carl, his partner, who offers moving insights into how their shared values deepen their relationship.

The episode captures striking contrasts: the buzz of the city versus the calm of local temples; a nail salon’s chatter against the resonance of monastery chanting. Through honest conversations and ambient recordings, we step into Freddie and Carl’s world, where Buddhist practice offers an anchor amid chaos.

Their story explores what it means to redefine success, maintain spiritual discipline in a hyperactive city, and find peace through faith. It also touches on themes of identity, mindfulness, and how love and belief can thrive under pressure.

Freddie’s journey is not one of retreat, but of radical reorientation - a decision to slow down in a world that keeps speeding up. This is a rare and intimate portrait of life shaped by stillness, purpose, and the search for something more lasting than applause.

Producer/Presenter: John Offord
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002j6z0)
Finding Elgar

Meet Edward Elgar - composer of Land of Hope and Glory, moustachioed symbol of Empire, and not obviously the kind of man Adrian Chiles would feel a deep connection with. But spend a little time with Elgar - really listen to him - and a very different character starts to emerge.

In Finding Elgar, Adrian Chiles heads out into the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire - where both he and Elgar spent their formative life - and sets out to rescue Sir Edward from the clutches of empire and stuffy concert halls. Along the way, he finds a surprising kinship with the composer - both Midlands-born, both Catholic, both prone to mood swings and bursts of enthusiasm, Adrian starts to see Elgar not as the voice of the establishment, but as a man constantly on the edge of it.

Adrian takes us from London concert halls to the hearing Elgar's music played on the Malvern Hills, via his father's music shop, his cottage birthplace and the church organ loft where the composer learned his craft. We follow Adrian as he traces Elgar’s journey from self-taught son of a piano tuner to national treasure - and asks how a composer with so much doubt, mischief and melancholy ended up as the soundtrack of British establishment.

Along the way, he meets musicians, scholars and fellow fans who all help to build a picture of the man behind the moustache. A man full of contradiction, tenderness and a love of silly games (including one involving beards).

Contributors include Ian Venables, a composer and fellow Worcester resident; the music writer Jude Rogers; flautist Catherine Handley; and academic and oboist Uchenna Ngwe. Adrian also meets Adrian Brown, the founder of the Elgar Sinfonia, and goes into the hills with Shulah Oliver, a professional violinist from Elgar country. Hamish Macaulay reads excerpts from Elgar's letters and W.H. Reed's biography.

Reader: Tom Allenby
Producer: Katie Hill
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002j6z4)
How important is magnesium?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around health and wellbeing.

In this episode, the Doctors turn their attention to the mineral of the moment - magnesium. Hyped up on social media, Chris and Xand want to dig into the different roles magnesium plays in regulating the human body, what happens when we’re deficient in magnesium, and whether we should be supplementing magnesium.

To find out, Chris and Xand sit down with Professor Stella Volpe. Stella is the Head of the department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise at Virginia Tech in the US. Stella specialises in prevention of diabetes and obesity, as well as sports nutrition. Her research has included studies of the role of magnesium in the body.

If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Professor Stella Volpe
Producer: Jo Rowntree and Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Grace Revill
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby

At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m002j6z8)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j6zf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Room 101 with Paul Merton (m002j6zk)
Series 3

Jack Dee

Paul Merton asks Jack Dee what he would put into Room 101.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002j5vk)
Azra faces disappointment and Fallon is offered an unexpected opportunity


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002j6zm)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 20:00 Today (m002j5tv)
Award-winning current affairs documentary series


TUE 20:45 In Touch (m002j6zp)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002j6zr)
Insight and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world.


TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002j5qz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Monday]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j6zt)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j6zw)
Episode Seven

Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 Eastern Classical (m001pmhw)
In 2023, East Asian musicians have never been more prominent in western classical music. But it’s not a simple case of East Asian musicians being welcomed onto the world stage, a glorious coming of age. Their emergence has come with much judgement, and European critics have bolstered many racist stereotypes in the process.

Mark Seow examines the clichés and truths that East Asian musicians face and, in the process, attempts to make sense of his own story.

Speaking to a range of musicians with East Asian heritage in the UK, Europe, Japan and Malaysia, Mark tells the real story of East Asian musical achievements and influence in the 21st century.

With contributions from: Maxine Kwok, LSO; Eunsley Park, London Philharmonia; Dr Maiko Kawabata, Royal College of Music and the Open University; Augustin Lusson, The Beggar’s Ensemble; Professor Daniel Leech Wilkinson, KCL; Dr David Chin, Artistic Director of Bachfest Malaysia and Malaysia Bach Festival Singers and Orchestra; Masaaki Suzuki, founder of Bach Collegium Japan; and Alex Ho, composer and co-founder of Tangram. With thanks to Thomas Cressy.

Presenter: Mark Seow
Producer: Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j6zy)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002j700)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j6y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j702)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j704)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m002j706)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j708)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j70b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j70d)
Back to school

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning.

I reckon that most of our children are back to school by now, with their oversized blazers to grow into, and their shiny new pencil cases.

There’s inevitable trepidation about a different classroom, perhaps in a new school and new teachers – most of whom will feel similarly apprehensive, but, once we get going, the majority will settle into the routine of school life and enjoy it..

I loved it, especially my small co-educational grammar school, but the bigger boys sometimes got a bit lively; one twirled his duffle bag so wildly around his head that the catch broke and it flew straight at my face, smashing my glasses!

I next saw that boy when, as a senior officer of the local council, he laid a wreath at a remembrance service that I was conducting – that was a bit of a shock but we still enjoy meeting up occasionally and laugh at his aim.

School teaches us to pass exams in useful subjects but it teaches us so much more too. We learn about diversity; that what we regard as the norm, may be quite different for other people. We learn about team work. We learn about leadership and about getting our voices heard and we learn that there are some people for whom life will almost always be a struggle and we learn how we can support them to be part of the group.

Lord, please bless all our schoolchildren and their teachers and support staff as they begin a new school year and help them to learn humanity above all else.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002j70g)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002j5tn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m002j5tq)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.


WED 09:30 Shadow World (m002hp7h)
The People vs McDonald's

5. Clowning Around

When Helen digs out some old letters from her former partner John, she finds some potential clues.

In 1986, members of environmental group, London Greenpeace, published a leaflet called ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s?’ It claimed McDonald’s was exploiting workers, destroying rainforests, torturing animals, and promoting food that could make people sick, even cause cancer...

McDonald’s said the claims in the leaflet were untrue and defamatory and the company demanded an apology.

Helen Steel, a gardener, and a former postman named Dave Morris, refused.

Mark Steel takes us into the murky world of McDonald’s Corporation vs Steel & Morris – aka 'McLibel' - the longest-running trial in English history which would turn the spotlight on the way big business operates. As well as bringing issues like rainforest destruction and advertising to children into the mainstream, it would also be the moment our current Prime Minister first comes to prominence. If that isn’t enough, this story would ultimately have connections with a dark and shameful secret at the heart of the British state - something which Mark discovers he himself had been a victim of.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the Shadows – BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presenter: Mark Steel
Producer: Conor Garrett
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Mix: Tim Heffer
Music Score: Phil Kieran

*Archive excerpts from director Franny Armstrong’s ‘McLibel,’ reproduced with the permission of Spanner Films


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j5ts)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 Today (m002j5tv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5ty)
Episode 3: 'How's that crazy mother of yours?'

This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.

This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’

Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.

In this third episode, Arundhati is sent away to boarding school at the age of 13. She misses her beloved dog Dido more than she misses her mother or brother. But when she returns home for the holidays, the dog is not there:
‘Mrs Roy had had her shot. Because she mated with an unknown street dog. It was a kind of honour killing. Dido’s kennel stood there empty. I wanted to live in it. I didn’t, of course. I would have risked being shot, too.’
Meanwhile Mrs Roy’s new school goes from strength to strength and expands into a campus of its own. The architect who designs the new buildings, Laurence Wilfred Baker, inspires Arundhati to apply to architecture school in Delhi, and so: ‘starting at the age of 16, I gradually, deliberately, transformed myself into somebody else.’

Read by Shaheen Khan

Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver

Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002j5v2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002j5v6)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002j5vb)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002j5vf)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j5vh)
The Fort

3. Killing Ground

The story of Jugroom Fort takes a step back in time to the eve of battle.

January 2007. The battle-hardened Royal Marines of Zulu Company assemble ahead of a massive air bombardment of the target, a notorious Taliban staging post. Their orders include the possibility of crossing the Helmand River and attacking on foot. At 5am - that order is given. They're going in.

Captain Chris Witts commands the amphibious Viking vehicles. As the treacherous crossing is made, the marines ready themselves.

As they launch their attack, they discover that despite a night of heavy bomging - Jugroom Fort is far from deserted.

Lance Corporal Glyn Sadler and Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describe the switch from eerie silence - to an intense firefight.

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces. Many are speaking for the first time.

Produced by Kev Core


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002j5vk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029j9m)
The Officers, Part One: One Year

The first series of Life and Time was awarded Bronze at this year's ARIAS and now the second series returns. This time writer, James Fritz focuses on the Prison Officers.

Prison Officer, Michael Rose featured briefly in the first series and he's back. Michael is good at his job. It's rewarding but the pressure is growing. A wave of experienced officers are leaving and not being replaced. Then one day Rihanna joins. A young newbie and Michael needs to show her the ropes but Michael is becoming disillusioned and alarmed about the prison crisis - death by a thousand cuts. Rihanna, her new boots too shiny and the prison keys heavy on her belt, hasn't a clue about what lies ahead and that life on the inside is just as tough for the officers as it is for the prisoners.

Michael ..... Robert Glenister
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Paul ..... Jason Barnett
Jenny ..... Emma Handy
Steven ..... Gabin Kongolo
Toby ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Control Room/Officer Moritz ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Directed by Tracey Neale

Writer: James Fritz
Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
Technical Producer: Keith Graham
Production Co-Ordinator: Ben Hollands


WED 15:00 Money Box (m002j5vm)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


WED 15:30 New Elements (m002j5vp)
What does it take to make something which has never existed on Earth before? The search for element 120 on the periodic table has begun at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen, who is used to studying the processes of creation, visits the 88-Inch Cyclotron facility at Berkeley where the next new element may be created very soon.

To uncover what motivates scientists to pursue something that is possibly only produced in the violent explosions of stars he speaks with the scientists trying it now, the scientists who last made an element at Berkeley 50 years ago, and a historian of the fraught history of element discovery.

The answer is not as straight forward as he suspected.

Presenter: Andrew Pontzen
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth
Image Credit: Berkeley Lab Heavy Element Group


WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002j5vr)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002j5vt)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002j5vw)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j5vy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Do Gooders (m002j5w0)
Series 2

Episode 2 - The School

Gladys reveals she’s going to church, which takes the whole office by surprise and incenses Lauren. Ken uses the revelation to teach a few lessons of his own. Meanwhile, Clive struggles to comes to terms with the fact he’s ageing. Inevitably, things turn out to be not quite as they'd seemed.

Garrett Millerick’s ensemble sitcom Do Gooders returns for another series. The show takes us back behind the curtain of fictional mid-level charity, The Alzheimers Alliance, as the fundraising events team continue their daily struggle for survival. Cue more office feuds, more workplace romances and more catastrophic fundraising blunders – all par for the course when trying to ‘do good’ on an industrial scale.

Cast
Gladys – Kathryn Drysdale
Lauren – Ania Magliano
Clive – Garrett Millerick
Harriett – Fay Ripley
Achi – Ahir Shah
Ken – Frank Skinner

Guest Star
Niamh – Katie Norris

Writer – Garrett Millerick
Additional Material – Katie Storey
Sound Engineer – David Thomas
Editor – David Thomas
Production Assistant – Jenny Recaldin
Producer – Jules Lom
Executive Producers – Richard Allen-Turner, Daisy Knight, Julien Matthews, Jon Thoday

An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002j5w2)
Stella faces a challenge and will Lily fall on her sword?


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002j5w4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m002j5w6)
Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.


WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m002j5w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Illuminated (m002j5nr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j5wb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j5wd)
Episode Eight

Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 Ria Lina Gets Forensic (m002j5wg)
1. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Lapsed-forensic-scientist-turned-stand-up-comedian Ria Lina turns her scientific scrutiny to the various treatments out there that boast anti-aging effects.

In this episode, she’s joined by comedian, actress, author, podcaster and celebrated improviser Cariad Lloyd to see if Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can help to clear brain fog.

Featuring Ria Lina and Cariad Lloyd
Written by Ria Lina and Steve N Allen
Produced by Ben Walker

A DLT Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 The Skewer (m002j5wk)
Series 14

Episode 1

Jon Holmes brings you the week's biggest stories like you've never heard them before.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j5wn)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002j5wq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j5ty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j5ws)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j5wv)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m002j5wx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j5wz)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j5x1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j5x3)
I love the Sewing Bee!

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning.

I was brought up in homemade clothes, some were made for me and some were handed down from cousins because home made stuff has a habit of lasting for ever - especially if you don’t like it!

My mother had always knitted and sewn and my father was a trained engineer so when my sister and I needed new clothes, he would create a pattern by copying parts of a dress or a skirt onto newspaper and then my Mum would cut it out of fabric from the market and sew it up. Looking back, they made some lovely outfits but what we really wanted was a dress from a shop…..

But it’s with happy nostalgia that I watch The Great British Sewing Bee. It’s amazing how a dozen very different people – women and men, young and not so young, all sorts of cultures and backgrounds – come together to make gorgeous clothes, some from scratch, some transforming tents or swimming costumes to make something completely new and different.

The sewers compete against the clock and against each other, all aiming to delight the judges and eventually to win the coveted prize of Sewer of the Year. It’s a frantic race to the finish but I am often moved by the contestants who will stop their work to help another person who’s stuck. Creativity is a wonderful gift from God, no doubt, and where would we be without it, but kindness somehow trumps them all.

They say ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind’

Lord God, help us to be kind today.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002j5x5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002j74b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 Illuminated (m002h9np)
Into the West

The red-billed chough is the most dashing crow in the world. These rare, flamboyant, scarlet-legged, scarlet-billed denizens of Britain’s Celtic coasts are communal and comic, intelligent and daring. They’re also sublime aeronauts, riding the breeze as though they’re made of it.

For writer Horatio Clare, the chough is his totem. He’s loved the bird since he first encountered it in the 1980s during childhood holidays to Pembrokeshire. And more than forty years on from that joyous first encounter he still seeks them out. It’s his annual pilgrimage.

In this episode of Illuminated, we join Horatio on that pilgrimage as he tells the story of a bird with a beak and legs the colour of a saint’s blood… or perhaps a king’s blood; whose cry says its name and whose presence symbolises a nation’s identity. It’s the story of a bird which embodies myths… and creates new ones; a bird which fled into the West over two centuries ago and which is finally returning to a wider world.

Horatio begins his journey on Pen Llŷn, the westernmost spur of North Wales and one of the red-billed chough’s strongholds. His guide as he walks the sea cliffs is naturalist and folklorist Twm Elias. Twm lived alongside chough as he grew up on Llŷn and remembers a childhood visit to Caernarfon Castle, where his friend Dic John made a grab for the Castle’s ‘tame’ chough – and got a painful pecking in return.

Twm sees chough as a symbol of the wild coastal areas of north Wales. But it’s also wrapped up in ideas of Cornish identity too. Dr. Loveday Jenkin grew up on stories of King Arthur becoming a chough when he died. Yet, just as she heard those stories, the very last choughs were dying out in Cornwall.

But then, in 2001, thirty years after the last chough disappeared, three birds from Ireland made landfall in the far west of Cornwall. The following year two of them built a nest and the population grew from there. Hilary Mitchell from Cornwall Birds tells the story of how the avian symbol and spirit of the county returned.

The chough is associated now with the western Celtic coasts. But once upon a time it ranged right across the British Isles. And maybe it will again. Horatio heads in the opposite direction… east… to a place which hasn’t seen chough for at least two centuries, despite the bird being embedded in its iconography.

In Dover he meets Paul Hadaway from Kent Wildlife Trust to discover how a bird which was a symbol of the martyr and saint Thomas a Becket is once again flying in Kentish skies. And Jenny Luddington from the Trust explains how she’s drawn on an old tradition of hooden creatures – carved wooden animal heads on poles – to create a hooden chough and tell the story of the bird’s return to Kent.

Horatio Clare discovers that the chough’s story has come full circle as old myths rehatch and new ones take wing.

Presenter: Horatio Clare
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Wales production for BBC Radio 4


THU 09:30 How to Play (m002j74d)
Max Richter's Four Seasons Recomposed with Elena Urioste and Odyssey Ensemble

Violinist Elena Urioste and the brand new Odyssey Ensemble invite us to eavesdrop on rehearsals as they prepare to perform one of the 21st century's best loved instrumental works.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j74g)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002j74j)
Alicia Vikander

Swedish-born Alicia Vikander won global acclaim in 2015 for playing Vera Britten in Testament Of Youth, and a humanoid robot in the thriller Ex-Machina. The following year she won an Academy Award for her supporting role with Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, along with a Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. Since then her diverse range of screen roles have included playing a spy boss in the film Jason Bourne, computer game heroine Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, and Gloria Steinem in the biopic The Glorias. The daughter of acclaimed stage actor Maria Fahl, she tells John Wilson how she first performed on stage at the age of seven in a musical written by Benny and Bjorn of ABBA. She also appeared in Swedish television dramas and films as a child actor. In 2025 Alicia Vikander makes her return to the stage in a new version of Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea at The Bridge in London, her first theatre role since she was a child.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


THU 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j74l)
Episode 4: She's Leaving Home

This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.

This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’

Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.

In this fourth episode, Arundhati is studying architecture in Delhi. She still goes home in the holidays, and her mother has become an influential public figure:
‘She began to speak out in public about the trauma she had endured as a child and young woman. She spoke of her father’s violence towards her. Mrs Roy publicly said she married the first man who proposed to her to get away from her father…’
At home, though, Mrs Roy becomes increasingly volatile. She screams at Arundhati, calling her ‘whore’ and ‘prostitute’.
‘At the end of the holidays, I returned to Delhi and I wrote and told her that I loved her but wouldn’t be coming home again and I would no longer need money from her. Her responses were so insulting that I stopped reading them.’

Read by Shaheen Khan

Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver

Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002j74n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002j74q)
Exposing the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002j74s)
Dough - The Future of Housebuilding

Could your future home be built by a robot bricklayer?

Greg Foot, host of the BBC Radio 4 show 'Sliced Bread', now brings you 'Dough'.

Each episode explores future wonder products that might rise to success and redefine our lives.

Experts and entrepreneurs discuss the trends shaping what today's everyday technology may look like tomorrow, before a leading futurist offers their predictions on what life might be like within five, ten and fifty years.

This episode examines the future of UK housebuilding.

Will new homes be cheaper to run and built to a higher standard?
What potential do robots have to build quality homes quickly and cheaply?
Could building homes with bricks become a thing of the past?
Might 3D printing homes with concrete be a realistic alternative?
And will factories play a bigger part in meeting the demand for new housing?

Alongside Greg is the futurist Tom Cheesewright and expert guests including Prof. Richard Fitton, Professor of Building Performance at the University of Salford and Salar al Khafaji, the CEO and founder of Monumental which builds autonomous on-site construction robots.

Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North Production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.


THU 12:57 Weather (m002j74v)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002j74x)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j74z)
The Fort

4. The Break-in

The Royal Marines Commandos have launched their ground assault on Jugroom Fort.

A jagged, v-shaped hole has been blasted into its side, and fresh from a nerve-wracking river crossing, the men of Zulu Company surge from their Viking vehicles to take up positions and press home their assault.

This will be the location for "the break-in", the moment of any attack on an enemy encampment when the defences are breached.

Five Troop are the tip of the spear. Commanded by Al Weldon, Rifleman Marine Mike Cleary is "point man" - leading the way.

Speaking for the first time about their experiences, Al and Mike describe the moment the eeried quiet of a seemingly deserted stronghold is shattered.

Overwhelmed by enemy fire, Zulu Company regroup and attempt to marshal their casualties from the "killing ground".

Last to leave, Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describes last-ditch efforts to account for their missing man.

Senior Marine, Lance Corporal Mathew Ford cannot be found. And as the enemy fire continues around them difficult decisions are made to ensure the safety of the rest of the company.

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.

Produced by Kev Core


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002j5w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0029jk1)
The Officers, Part Two: Thirty-Eight Weeks

James Fritz's award winning drama series continues. Prison Officer Rihanna Campbell has been shown the ropes but is under pressure. She is the new key worker to Steven, a prisoner who can be challenging. Can a young, poorly paid and poorly trained officer perform miracles or will she be broken by a system that is struggling to cope with overcrowding, under staffing and lack of funding.

Michael ..... Robert Glenister
Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell
Steven ..... Gabin Kongolo

Writer: James Fritz
Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
Technical Producer: Keith Graham
Production Co-Ordinator: Ben Hollands


THU 15:00 Open Country (m002j751)
The Menai Strait

Martha Kearney visits the Menai Strait - the stretch of water which separates Ynys Môn or Anglesey from mainland Wales. She learns about its treacherous tides and hears about the history of its two bridges, both built in the 19th century to improve travel between London and Ireland. The Menai Suspension Bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and will celebrate its 200th anniversary at the start of 2026. The newer Britannia Bridge had to be completely rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1970.

Martha meets an academic from Bangor University who explains how ocean physics make the waters of the Strait so dangerous. At low tide she braves the pouring rain to go rock-pooling with a wildlife expert, who explains why the Strait is such a special habitat for marine life. She also visits Church Island - a tiny island in the middle of the Strait which is home to an ancient church - and meets the people who look after it.

Producer: Emma Campbell


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002j5mc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002j753)
Crash Bang Wallop: The Sound of Words

Michael Rosen is joined by linguist Dr Catherine Laing to discuss onomatopoeia and other words that sound like their meanings. Not just words for sounds like 'crash' and 'bang', or words for animal noises like 'woof' and 'quack', but also other words which perhaps hold something of their meaning within their form. Is there something rough about the word 'rough'? Does 'smooth' feel smooth? And how can we play with this in everyday speech and in poetry?

Produced by Becky Ripley, in partnership with the Open University.


THU 16:00 Rethink (m002j755)
Rethink: how can flying be less polluting?

Aviation has a problem: it's reliant on fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases when they're burned in a jet engine. Other industries are worse polluters, but in the next few decades, they are likely to decarbonise much faster than the airline sector.

Why? Because kerosene is a light enough fuel for planes to get off the ground, while producing enough thrust for them to do so. Also it enables airliners to carry passengers to the other side of the world.

International flight has only been around for less than 100 years, but research suggests that it's responsible for 4% of total global warming to date. It's not just that airliners pump out carbon dioxide, but they also emit nitrous oxides and soot. Even contrails, which are mostly water vapour, have a warming effect high up in the atmosphere.

Can efficiencies in jet engines, optimal routes and air traffic control lead to less fuel being used? What technologies are available to make flying cleaner? Is the pace of change fast enough to meet net zero by 2050? And who will pay for the changes to planes, fuel production and airport infrastructure that will be needed?

Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Lisa Baxter

Contributors:
David Lee, Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Dr Mark Bentall, Head of the Research and Technology Programme, Airbus
Dr Naomi Allen, Head of Research at the Royal Aeronautical Society,
Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy in the School of Engineering at the University of Manchester.
Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive, Sustainable Aviation

Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m002j757)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m002j759)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j75c)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002j75f)
Glenn Moore's Almanac Series 2

Arrest!

Comedian Glenn Moore looks in his almanac at world events and what he was doing at the time. This episode is a case of wrongful arrest, mistaken identity and a heroic struggle to clear his name as Glenn Moore is mistaken for... Glenn Moore!

Perhaps best-known for his outrageously brilliant one-liners on Mock The Week, Glenn delivers a tale of comic mishaps and extraordinary scenes interwoven with a big event in history – and looks back through his almanac to find out other strange connections to the day as well.

Written by Glenn with additional material by Katie Storey (Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, The Last Leg) and produced and directed by David Tyler (Cabin Pressure, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive, etc.)

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002j639)
Ruairi hatches a plan and Azra does her research


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002j75h)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002j5vr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002j5vt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002j5jw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 One to One (m001sd00)
Future Cities: Tori Herridge meets Ed Finn

Tori Herridge is a palaeontologist who spends her life studying creatures from the past – but when it comes to humans, she’s obsessed with the future. In the last of three episodes she speaks to Ed Finn, founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, about how science, art and science fiction can work together to help us picture the far future and avoid the dystopias we fear.

Presenter: Tori Herridge
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Made in Bristol by BBC Audio.


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j75k)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j75m)
Episode Nine

Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002j75p)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j75r)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002j75t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j74l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002j75w)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002j75y)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002j760)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002j762)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002j764)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002j766)
The day of Encouragement

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Ann Easter

Good morning.

I was fascinated to learn that September 12th, today, has been declared the National Day of Encouragement in the United States of America. They say that it’s a day to uplift and encourage people and I’ve no doubt that, done with care, such a day must make an enormous difference in people’s lives and thus lift their communities too.

My younger son loved his baby sling but probably spent rather longer in it, tied to my chest, than he ought to have done. Standing in a queue one day, a lady looked over at my son, sleeping soundly, and I said, a bit defensively, ‘He’s a proper mummy’s boy, this one’ to which the lady replied, ‘And you’re a proper boy’s Mummy’ and that was so kind and positive and made me feel better about myself and the baby.

I do really try to give honest encouragement when I can and I say ‘honest’ because it’s all too easy to gush about anything but, if it’s not real, our words are empty and meaningless and thus not helpful. If our hope is to give others courage, we need not only to appreciate what they’ve done but to support them in going further. We know from our own experience that there will be risks to take and, that sometimes people fail, but, if we know that, if we feel that others believe in us, we can try again and, next time, fail better.

Lord, help us to show others that we genuinely believe in them, to give them courage and hope and so to bring your Kingdom of love nearer to this earth and all its children.

Amen


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002j768)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002j62q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m002j5my)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002j62s)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002j62v)
Follow the Food: The Rise of Food Tourism

Sheila Dillon investigates the growing number of food tours and trails in the UK as consumers show more and more interest in the provenance of what is on their plate. She heads to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire – a town that boasts the title of Rural Capital Of Food - and joins a walking tour that spans pork pie producers, stilton sellers, a samosa wallah and a prizewinning brewery.

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol


FRI 11:45 Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (m002j62x)
Episode 5: A Declaration of Love

This is the first memoir by the acclaimed Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, best-known for her Booker-prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It is the account of a remarkable and difficult childhood which was dominated by Arundhati’s formidable mother, Mary Roy.

This was a time in South India when women had very proscribed roles, and Mary Roy challenged them profoundly:
‘In that conservative, stifling little South Indian town, where, in those days, women were only allowed the option of cloying virtue – or its affectation – my mother conducted herself with the edginess of a gangster.’

Mary Roy’s achievements are extraordinary - she founded a co-educational school which challenged sexist gender roles, and she brought a legal challenge which gave South Indian women equal inheritance rights with men. But at home, as Arundhati reveals, she’s cruel and bullying; she hits her children and belittles them constantly. At 18, Arundhati left home and didn’t see or speak to her mother for seven years. But when Mary Roy died in 2022, Arundhati was distraught, and even a ‘little ashamed’ at the intensity of her loss. In an attempt to make sense of their relationship, she began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.

In this final episode, Arundhati describes her ‘brittle, tentative’ reunion with her mother after a seven-year absence from home. She becomes a published writer and wins the Booker Prize with her first novel, The God of Small Things:
‘The only person I called after the prize was announced was my mother. It would have been about 2am for her in Kottayam. She was up, watching the news on tv. “Well done, baby girl.” An incredible expression of love. I’d caught her on a good day.’
In September 2022, after a period of increasing frailty, Mrs Roy died.
‘I spun unanchored in space with no coordinates. I had constructed myself around her. I had grown into the peculiar shape that I am to accommodate her. I had never wanted to defeat her, never wanted to win. I had always wanted her to go out like a queen. And now that she had, I didn’t make sense to myself any more.’

Read by Shaheen Khan

Produced and abridged by Elizabeth Burke

Studio Production and Sound Design by Jon Calver

Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Photo courtesy of Arundhati Roy

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002j62z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m002j631)
Steel Cities

The modern world is built on steel but can it ever be green? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski search for the holy grail of environmentally friendly steel.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002j633)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002j635)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 The History Podcast (m002j637)
The Fort

5. The Dirty Dash

Overwhelmed by enemy fire, Zulu Company have marshalled their casualties from the "killing ground" and staged a hurried withdrawal.

Last to leave, Company Sergeant Major Shep Shepherd describes desperate efforts to account for their missing man.

Senior Marine, Lance Corporal Mathew Ford cannot be found.

Back at base - the decision is instant. A "no-brainer".

"We're going back to get him."

A small, mobile group of volunteers is assembled for the "dirty dash" - a race back to the scene of the battle in the Viking vehicles. Captain Chris Witts gives an insight into the nature of decision-making under pressure.

But it's a plan that the enemy may see coming. And an alternative option comes from a pilot high above them.

The Fort is told solely by current and former members of the Armed Forces.

Produced by Kev Core.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002j639)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002hzht)
Mothercover

Episode 3: Family Liaison

Gwen decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands. But what she finds out will make her doubt everything she thought she knew.
An Aberystwyth-set thriller, by BAFTA Cymru nominee Fflur Dafydd, with original music by Mercury Prize nominees Gwenno and Rhys Edwards.

CAST
Gwen.... Alexandra Roach
Liz.... Remy Beasley
Owen... Sacha Dhawan
Geraint.... Matthew Gravelle
Dean... Alex Harries
Mina.... Behnaz Vakili
Kirsty.... Aoife Moss
Puppeteer.... Cellan Wyn
Ioan.... Liam Donnelly
Theo.... Cai Roberts

Original Music.... Gwenno and Rhys Edwards

Sound design.... Rhys Morris
Production Co-ordinators.... Lindsay Rees and Eleri McAuliffe
Assistant Producer.... Ryan Hooper
Technology Consultant... Gareth Mitchell
Directed by Fay Lomas
Produced by Fay Lomas and John Norton, BBC Audio Drama Wales


FRI 14:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m0022z9f)
19. A Different Kind of Justice

How does a small informal survey lead to shocking truths about the US justice system thirty years later?

Producer Lauren Armstrong Carter
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002j63c)
Summer Garden Party Potting Shed

Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002j63f)
Fairy Penguin by Rachel Trezise

Original short fiction by Rachel Trezise.

Keisha tries to survive a school trip to Bristol Zoo. She doesn't have the right hair, the right friends or the latest electronic pets.

Reader: Georgia Henshaw
Sound: Nigel Lewis
Producer: John Norton

A BBC Audio Wales Production


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002j63h)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m002j5tq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002j63k)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002j63n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002j63s)
Series 118

Episode 2

Topical panel quiz show, taking its questions from the week's news stories.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002j63x)
Writer: Nick Warburton 
Director: Helen Aitken
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Ben Archer.... Ben Norris
Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Tom Archer.... William Troughton
Ruairi Donovan.... Arthur Hughes
Amber Gorden.... Charlotte Jordan
Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Azra Malik.... Yasmin Wilde
Freddie Pargetter.... Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter.... Katie Redford
Stella Pryor.... Lucy Speed
Fallon Rogers.... Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell.... Carole Boyd
Dane.... Stavros Demetraki


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002j641)
Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe explore the rich web of connections in music.


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002j645)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002j648)
September 8th - September 14th

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

This week: 8th - 14th September

- 9th September 1976. Death of Mao Zedong
-12th September 1846. HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, the British expedition searching for a Northwest Passage, become trapped in ice.
- 12th September 1940. Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings

Presented by Viji Alles and Jane Steel.
Producers: Sofie Vilcins and Luke Doran.


FRI 21:00 The Verb (m002j64b)
The Adverb from the Ledbury Poetry Festival

Ian McMillan presents poetry in performance with Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen in this recording of The Adverb at the Ledbury Festival.
They share poems of friendship, childhood, and of love in its many forms - from the love of a child for a parent, to the love of balconies.

Jackie Kay is the former Makar (Poet Laureate) of Scotland - she shares poems of great tenderness from her latest collection May Day and from earlier collections too.

Hollie McNish is one of our best-loved poets. In books like 'Nobody Told Me' and 'Lobster', her work explores taboos around the body and the experience of motherhood. In this programme we hear her poetry of friendship too.

Michael Pedersen is a poet and author, as well as the Makar for Edinburgh. He has been acclaimed for his attention to male friendship in his collection 'The Cat Prince' and for the poetic writing in his new book 'Muckle Flugga' - which is filled with warmth and humour.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002j64d)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Nesting by Roisín O'Donnell (m002j64g)
Episode Ten

Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love and resilience, this is a novel that explores coercive control in a relationship and one woman’s bid to start over.

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

The Author
Roisín O’Donnell won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018 and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection ‘Wild Quiet’, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as ‘The Long Gaze Back’. Her debut novel ‘Nesting’ was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 and was a Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller. Roisín lives near Dublin with her two children.

Reader: Aoibhéann McCann
Author: Roisín O’Donnell
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct7t5x)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002j64k)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament