SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002l3qj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry (m002l3pc)
5. End of an Ordinary Life

"Now I understand there are no ordinary lives – that every death is the end of a single event in time’s history: an event so improbable as to be miraculous, and irreplaceable in every particular."

Booker Prize-longlisted author Sarah Perry's father-in-law, David, died at home nine days after a cancer diagnosis having previously been in good health. The speed of his illness outstripped that of the NHS and social care, so the majority of nursing fell to Sarah and her husband. They witnessed what happens to the body and spirit, hour by hour, as it approaches death.

Death of an Ordinary Man is an unstinting account of death by cancer, a reportage into the experience of caring, an exploration of the structural conditions of dying in the UK, and most importantly a testament to David’s life, that of an ordinary man.

Unflinching and profoundly moving, Sarah Perry confronts the taboo surrounding death and how the saddest thing she has ever seen is also the best thing she's ever done.

Episode Five
David is fast-tracked to end-of-life care at home, surrounded by family and watchful carers.

Reader: Louise Brealey
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002l3ql)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002l3qn)
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 (m002l3qq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002l3qs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002l3qv)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


SAT 05:45 Untaxing (m0029hw8)
5. The £10 Billion Fridge

A fruit and veg supplier installs a fridge. A tax advisor claims it’s a scientific breakthrough, and urges a claim for R&D tax relief.

That fridge is just the tip of a £10 billion scandal. How did HMRC let it happen? And why is no one talking about it?

Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002lfr1)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m002l3hm)
Crime and Punishment in the Peak District

Clare joins writer Kate Morgan on a walk from Monsal Head to Tideswell in the Peak District. Along the way, they explore how the use of gallows and gibbets in public punishment has influenced rural place names. Gibbet Rock, a striking limestone outcrop also called Peter’s Stone for its resemblance to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was once used to ‘gibbet’ or display the bodies of executed criminals. Kate tells the story of Anthony Lingard, who was convicted in 1815 of murdering a local woman, Hannah Oliver, and became the last person to be gibbetted at the site.

Kate is currently researching her third book, which will be on this subject. Her previous two books are Murder: The Biography which explores the legal history of the crime of murder in English Law, and The Walnut Tree which looks into the major legal changes affecting women in the 19th and early 20th centuries. (https://amheath.com/authors/kate-morgan)

Map:OS Explorer OL24 The Peak District White Peak Area, Buxton Bakewell, Matlock & Dove Dale
Map Ref: SK185715 for the start of the walk at Monsal Head car park

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002lfr3)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002lfr5)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002lfr7)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002lfr9)
David Suchet, Greetings Cards, Artistic Exploration, and Clare Balding's Inheritance Tracks

David Suchet joins Adrian Chiles for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m002ldh6)
Series 24

We Didn't Start the Fire

It has been said that you can't start a fire without a spark: but as Hannah and Dara are about to discover, that's not true!

Welcome to the fiery phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, when something can ignite all on its own: no matches, no sparks, no external flame. It happens when certain materials heat themselves up internally through chemical or biological reactions, and if that carried on unchecked and the material gets hot enough, it can eventually ignite itself.

This process can occur in various everyday items such as piles of hay or grass clippings, oily rags and in certain instances lithium batteries; but there are also several useful chemical substances that autoignite when they come into contact with air - as Hannah, Dara and a wary BBC fire officer witness in the studio...

So how can we stop things regularly bursting into flames? How scared should we be about oiling floorboards and our increasingly battery-powered life? And is spontaneous human combustion really a thing? Our investigators are on the case.

To submit your question to the Curious Cases team, please email: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:
- Andrea Sella, Professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London
- Emanuel ‘Big Manny’ Wallace, former science teacher now a science content creator
- Matt Oakley, fire investigations officer at Surrey Fire and Rescue Service
- Roger Byard, Emeritus Professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide and a senior specialist forensic pathologist at Forensic Science SA (FSSA)

Producer: Lucy Taylor
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

A BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 10:30 Legend (m002ldhb)
The Bruce Springsteen Story

3. Born in the USA

How did Bruce become The Boss, and what did it cost him to get there? Laura Barton explores the extraordinary life story of Bruce Springsteen, taking a front-row seat at five important gigs to reveal the life behind the legend.

Bruce's story continues in rural Holmdel, New Jersey, alone with a four-track tape recorder. He goes back into his childhood, drives the streets of his early years, searching for answers. Looking for meaning. The seminal album, Nebraska, is what comes out.

What happens next is an unravelling. And then a rebuilding. The Bruce who returns is unrecognisable. "He's got muscles now. Does that mean we have to get muscles now?!" - Warren Zanes. The album Born In The USA, with the anthemic album track and hit single Dancing In The Dark, takes Bruce stratospheric.

In October, 1985, after two years and 156 shows, the Born In The USA comes to a close at the Coliseum Los Angeles. Four sold out nights of 80,000 people. The final night is one of melancholy and of joy. And a foreboding of change to come.

~~~

“I'm here tonight to provide proof of life to that ever elusive, never completely believable, particularly these days, us. That's my magic trick.”

In Legend: The Bruce Springsteen Story, we uncover the magic trick to discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from small-town New Jersey became the iconic, muscular, and oft-misunderstood rock star of the 1980s, to the eloquent elder statesmen he is now. What can his story tell us about America today?

In each episode, Laura takes us to the front row of a live performance that reveals a different side of The Boss, and hears him across the decades in his own words from the archive. We'll also hear from fellow worshippers in the Church of Springsteen, and disciples from the E Street Band, including drummer Max Weinberg, tributes from those influenced by Bruce, such as Bryce Dessner from The National, as well as Freehold town historian Kevin Coyne and music critics and biographers such as Richard Williams, Eric Alterman, Steven Hyden, Warren Zanes and Diane H. Winston.

The Bruce Springsteen Story comes from the production team behind BBC Radio 4’s award-winning Joni Mitchell Story, and the podcast Soul Music – “… the gold standard for music podcasts…” (Esquire).

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Series Developer: Mair Bosworth
Production Coordinator: Stuart Laws
Research: Sarah Goodman
Series Editor: Emma Harding
Sound Design and Original Music: Hannis Brown
Commissioning Editors: Daniel Clarke and Matthew Dodd


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002lfrc)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002ldcr)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002lfrf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002ldcp)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002l3q0)
Series 118

Episode 8

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


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002lfrh)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002lfrk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002l3q6)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002lfrm)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002l3q2)
Writer: Katie Hims
Director: Andy Partington
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer.... Angus Imrie
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davies
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donavan.... Arthur Hughes
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Tracy Horrorbin.... Susie Riddell
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Carly…. Louise Brearley


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001h3rw)
Death and the Penguin

Hattie Naylor’s darkly comic adaptation of Andrey Kurkov’s international classic set in mid-90s Ukraine. Starring Tom Basden and Jason Watkins, all that stands between one man and murder by the mafia is a penguin.

A blend of Gogol’s absurdist humour and Kafka’s alienation this tragi-comedy is set in the wild west atmosphere of a newly independent Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the heart of the action, is down-on-his-luck writer, Viktor. His story becomes one about surviving and enduring in perilous times.

Viktor ….. Tom Basden
Lyosha ….. Jason Watkins
Igor ….. David Hounslow
Sonya ….. Blythe Arbery
Nina ….. Chloe Sommer
Misha-non-Penguin ….. Roger Ringrose
Sergey ….. Tom Kiteley
Natasha ….. Fiona Skinner
Dr Pidpaly ….. Joanna Monro

Translated by George Bird
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002lfrp)
Highlights from the Woman's Hour week


SAT 17:00 PM (m002lfrr)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002lfrt)
Nick Robinson talks to people who shape our political thinking about what shaped theirs.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002lfrw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002lfry)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002lfs0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002lffm)
Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden; Jake Arnott; Lloyd Griffith; Kerry Godliman; Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Kiri Pritchard-McLean and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002ldbp)
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002l3h5)
In-depth conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives across theatre, visual arts, music, dance, film and more. Hosted by John Wilson.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002lfs2)
Aleister Crowley - Master of the Dark Arts

Aleister Crowley has been called many things - poet, mountaineer, occultist, fraudster, prophet, pervert, genius, charlatan. He branded himself “The Great Beast” and the tabloids of the 1920s happily obliged, denouncing him as “the wickedest man in the world.” But how did this Edwardian eccentric, once dismissed as a scandalous curiosity, become a lasting countercultural icon - celebrated by rock stars, adopted by metal musicians, and still invoked in popular culture today?

Writer and broadcaster Paul Morley - somewhat hesitantly - steps into the shadow of this defiant nonconformist who was born in 1875 into a wealthy but fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren family.

Crowley founded his own occult religion with the mantra "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" and, in the decades after his death in 1947, his occult ideas and descriptions of drug-taking travelled through countercultural bookshops into the worlds of psychedelia, hard rock and heavy metal. The Beatles included him on the cover of Sgt Pepper, Jimmy Page collected his books, Ozzy Osbourne sang “Mr Crowley”, Blondie’s Gary Lachman found himself initiated into Crowley’s magickal order in California. And new generations of artists and musicians continue to rediscover his blend of provocation and self-mythology.

Is Crowley best remembered as a pioneering thinker who made esoteric knowledge public, a dangerous manipulator who wrecked lives, or simply as a flamboyant showman who understood the power of scandal? 150 years after his birth, his name still provokes fascination, fear and amusement.

Featuring:
Crowley biographer Gary Lachman, a founding member of Blondie who is now an academic and acclaimed writer on the occult.
Social historian and third generation witch Geraldine Beskin of Atlantis bookshop
Pioneering pop artist Jann Haworth
Musician and composer Dr Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke who is composing a choral work based on Crowley's Book of The Law
Keeper of the Sacred Flame of Rock, Dante Bonutto of Spine Farm records
Musician Edgar Broughton of the psychedelic proto-punk Edgar Broughton Band
Olly Pearson from Helgi's occult metal bar

Thanks to Mogg Morgan for providing a lost Radio 4 archive recording

Writer and Presenter: Paul Morley
Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 The History Podcast (m002lfs4)
The House at Number 48

The House at Number 48 (Omnibus 1)

First part of an omnibus edition of the House at Number 48.

When Antony Easton’s enigmatic father passes away, he opens his Dad's suitcase, filled with cryptic clues. Neatly stacked German money, a family tree he doesn’t recognise, and books filled with sprawling notes. He also finds his father’s birth certificate, but bearing a different name.

Confronting his dad’s double identity, Antony begins a ten-year quest to uncover the truth.

Piece-by-piece he comes to understand his family’s dark history as he attempts to reclaim his grandfather’s property and art empire, and expose the historic robbery and murder of his relatives.

Antony is determined to find the descendants of those who looted his family’s assets, and continue to live off their wealth today. He wants to meet them face to face.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


SAT 22:00 News (m002lfs6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002l3p9)
Keeping It Local: A Suffolk Story

It's twenty years since the Aldeburgh Food Festival began. Sheila Dillon examines its impact in this small Suffolk seaside town where food producers work together to forge strong local supply chains. She speaks to the festival's co-founder Lady Caroline Cranbrook who has been a passionate advocate of Suffolk's rich food ecosystem. She goes on a shopping trip with local restaurateur and hotelier George Pell, a self-styled "blow-in" from London. They visit a fishing family, a butcher and a farmer supporting a start-up serving crullers in a town where collaboration is king.

Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell


SAT 23:00 Mark Steel's in Town (m002l35f)
Series 14

3. Lewisham

Mark Steel visits Lewisham in south London and creates a show for the local audience.

There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum
Sound Manager Jerry Peal
Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios production for Radio 4


SAT 23:30 The 3rd Degree (m002l233)
Series 15

6. University of Edinburgh

The 3rd Degree is a funny, upbeat and brainy quiz show.

With this episode coming from the University of Edinburgh, the Specialist Subjects are Theology, Jewellery & Silversmithing and Medicine - so naturally we’ll be learning the true meaning of univocity, the proper method of sintering, the correct usage of fluoroisotopes and the best way to eat Dubai Chocolate. Oh, and how to pronounce Kirkcudbrightshire. More or less.

The show is recorded on location at a different University each week, and pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors. The General Knowledge rounds include a quickfire bell-and-buzzer finale and the Highbrow & Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students’ knowledge of history, art, literature and politics, but also their Professors’ awareness of TV, music and sport. Meanwhile there are the three Specialist Subject rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, and where we find out whether the students have actually been awake during lectures.

In this series, the universities include Bristol, Queen Mary University of London, Kent, Worcester College Oxford, Manchester Metropolitan University and Edinburgh

Producer: David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002lfs8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002l231)
Philippa Gregory

Celebrated historical novelist Phillipa Gregory speaks to James Crawford about her latest novel Boleyn Traitor and explores its connections to three other works of literature.

Philippa’s intimate portrayals of the machinations of the Tudor court have made her a bestseller and a household name. In her latest dive in to 16th Century England, she returns to the world of King Henry VIII, seen through the eyes of Jane Boleyn, confidante to five of Henry’s six wives – but was she a loyal friend, or a duplicitous spy?

For her three influences Phillipa chose: The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904), A Room With A View by EM Forster (1908), and The Country and the City by Raymond Williams (1973).

Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002lfsb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002lfsd)
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 (m002lfsg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002lfsj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002ldcy)
St Peter’s Church in Carmarthen, Wales

Bells on Sunday comes from St Peter’s Church in Carmarthen, Wales. Though founded much earlier, the present building dates from at least the 14th century. The landmark west tower contains a ring of eight bells, four of which are the original bells cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester in 1722. The tenor bell weighs fifteen and one quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of E. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples performed by a band from the Ancient Society of College Youths.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002l35p)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002ld9v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vpg)
Searching for hope as a hostage in Gaza

After two long years President Trump has announced a ceasefire agreement which should see the remaining hostages returned home in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

How have the families of Israeli hostages and their loved ones, held captive in dark tunnels for hundreds of days, managed to hold onto hope? Do people deepen their faith during periods of immense suffering, or turn away from religion?

For this edition of Heart and Soul, Naomi Scherbel-Ball explores how, two years on since the October 7th attacks, hostages and their families see their lives and their faith.

Many of those held hostage in Gaza come from the kibbutzim, largely secular communities that border Gaza, or were taken from the Nova music festival. Some of those released have spoken about reconnecting with their Jewish faith, with one female hostage even translating her prayers into Arabic so she would be allowed to continue to pray by her captors. Others speak of the strength they found in their family, the kibbutzim movement and community.

65-year-old American-Israeli Keith Siegel, who was kidnapped with his wife Aviva, explains how his connection to Judaism deepened during nearly 500 days in captivity. On his release, his daughter asked what he would like for their first family shabbat meal together after nearly 500 days. “What I want most is a kippah and a kiddush cup”, he answered, referring to the head covering worn by observant Jewish men and the symbolic cup that is held during the Friday night blessing in Judaism. Now back with his family in Israel, he says his heart is not whole until the remaining hostages return.

Produced and Presented by Naomi Scherbel-Ball
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002ld9x)
The Cornish Centenarian

As he turns 100, David Lightfoot shares his memories of farming in the Cornish countryside. One of nine children, he started his career with a couple of cows and and a few rented fields. He went on to farm for Prince Charles, before he became King, and rented land from the Duchy of Cornwall. His family are still Duchy tenants. David brought Charolais cattle to Cornwall and still takes delight in inspecting his nephew's cows which came from the breeding stock he introduced.
As a boy he milked cows by hand and learnt to drive one of the first tractors in the area. He worked the land with heavy horses, and when he was called up for World War II he was tasked with teaching officers how to ride horses in the Indian jungle.

We join him as he tours his nephew's farm in the Tamar Valley and reflects on what makes a good beast - and a good farmer.

Produced and presented by Rebecca Rooney


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002ld9z)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002ldb1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002ldb3)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002ldb5)
SSAFA

Adventurer and former Royal Naval reservist Ben Fogle makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. SSAFA supports veterans and serving personnel in the UK and other countries including Cyprus, Brunei and France offering help with issues like addiction, debt and homelessness.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week. Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0754 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 ‘SSAFA’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘SSAFA’.
- 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: 210760. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.ssafa.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002ldb7)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002ldb9)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002ldbc)
One holy, catholic and apostolic church

From CFC (the Christian Fellowship Church) in Belfast with members of different Christian denominations reflecting on and considering the importance of the clause in the Nicene Creed: “We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church”

Led by Pastor Andrew Gibson
Preacher: Esther Simpson

King of Kings
This I believe (The Creed)
John 17:20-26
Glorify thy name
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Not by might

Musical Director: Dave Robb


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74jk)
Brazil’s biggest bank heist

In August 2005, a gang of theives tunnelled their way into a Brazilian bank vault in a heist straight out of the movies.

Three months before, the thieves had set up a landscaping business, Grama Sintetica - or Synthetic Grass, from a house close to the Banco Central in Fortaleza. But it was a plot to disguise their real activity.

Working in shifts, they dug an 80 metre tunnel from the house, under a neighbouring street and into the vault before escaping with more than 160million reais, then the equivalent of $70m.

Antonio Celso Dos Santos, then a federal police chief, was one of the detectives who tracked down the gang. He spoke to Jane Wilkinson about the investigation.

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 the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: Police and journalists examine the Banco Central tunnel, 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Tuno de Vieira, Diario do Nordeste)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002ldbf)
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about birds inspired by their calls, songs and behaviour.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002ldbh)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002ldbk)
Lennie James, actor

Lennie James, actor and writer, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002ldbm)
Writer: Katie Hims
Director: Andy Partington
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer.... Angus Imrie
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davies
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donavan.... Arthur Hughes
Amber Gordon.... Charlotte Jordan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Tracy Horrorbin.... Susie Riddell
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane.... Perdita Avery
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Carly…. Louise Brearley


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002ldbp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m002l37c)
Series 4

Episode IV: A New Pope

Paul Sinha tests his audience in Ayr on their knowledge of universities, Popes and islands. In return, they get to quiz him about notable Scottish footballing achievements and the Scottish Grand National.

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

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Hamish Campbell
Mixed by Rich Evans
Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002ldbr)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002ldbt)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002ldbw)
Garden of England

Kent is the Garden of England — if you view it from the air, it’s covered in square miles of plastic, where the millions of tonnes of soft fruit are grown that feed the nation. Aidan Tulloch takes us inside the world of the summer fruit pickers recruited to work for a season on a blueberry farm in Kent.

In early summer thousands of people arrive in UK airports, hired on short-term visas to help pick the annual crop of soft fruit. Picking is an international effort, with jobs advertised in Russian, Bulgarian, Polish and many other languages, and pickers are increasingly being recruited from Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They are joined each day by local pickers, often students or young people working summers between other lives elsewhere. Many pickers live in on-site caravans that become their homes for several months. The farm becomes a fascinating, temporary global community.

From spring showers through a heatwave and a late September chill, this is the story of a summer in a pickers' village, from the early starts to the final goodbyes and the return home, where different people from vastly different backgrounds come together over the course of several months. It's the story of 5am alarms, temperamental weather, unexpected friendships and ad-hoc games of football, families left behind in home countries, new lives made in the UK. These are the human stories behind the punnets of blueberries in your local supermarket.

Translations: Irena Taranyuk and Elizaveta Fokht
Voices: Hannah Bristow and Olivia Railton

Presenter: Aidan Tulloch
Producer: Tim Bano


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002l3pp)
Two Dales

Peter Gibbs and a proud panel of gardening experts return to the Whitworth Institute in Darley Dale where they answer questions from an eager live audience of gardeners. Tackling all your weedy woes are the panel, including head gardeners Bethan Collerton and Marcus Chilton Jones, and garden designer Bunny Guinness.

Senior producer: Matthew Smith

Junior producer: Rahnee Prescod

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002ldby)
The Castle of Otranto

When Horace Walpole published The Castle of Otranto in 1764, novels as a form were still in their infancy. Many tended to be long-winded works, instructing readers on how to live a moral life.

With this short and fast-paced rollercoaster of a book, Walpole blew that idea out of the water, introducing his audience to a completely new kind of fiction, featuring supernatural happenings, suspense, and a young woman fleeing an evil villain down a dark corridor with a candle that blows out at the vital moment - all the elements of what we now call Gothic fiction.

Prompting both a moral panic and a rush on sales, The Castle of Otranto would prove inspirational to many future writers, including Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein and Jane Austen who would both parody and celebrate the Gothic in her novel Northanger Abbey.

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

Contributor: Emma Clery, Professor of English Literature at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Editor of The Castle of Otranto (1996), and author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762 -1800

Reader: Paul Dodgson
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Iain Hunter
Producer: Kate McAll
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002ldc0)
The Castle of Otranto

A new adaptation of Horace Walpole’s gothic novel, widely recognised as being the godfather of modern horror.

The adaptation by Katherine Tozer with specially composed music by John Chambers embraces the lurid nature of the original text, evoking a fever dream reality designed to conjure an experience that’s both eerie and disturbing.

Set in Medieval Italy, Manfred is the despotic ruler of Otranto. Defying the curse that foretells his downfall he prepares to use whatever means necessary to hold onto power.
Manfred ….. Sandy Grierson
Hippolyta ….. Emily Bruni
Mathilda ….. Kitty Archer
Isabella ….. Cecilia Appiah
Bianca ….. Bethany Muir
Theodore ….. Jake Kenny-Bryne
Father Jerome ….. Arthur Hughes
Frederic ….. Justin Salinger

Directed by Tracey Neale
Produced by Gemma Jenkins
Production Co-ordinator: Maggie Olgiati

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.

The Castle of Otranto is widely credited with single-handily creating the phenomenon of The Gothic Novel.

The novel was penned over several months in late 1764 by Horace Walpole and published under the pretence that it was a 'found' manuscript from an ancient library speaking of true-life horror.

The book's breathless pace and supernatural opening, packed with unexplainable happenings and sinister portents, anticipate everything from Frankenstein and Dracula, right up to the present-day Twilight Saga.

By turns lurid, sensational and slyly amusing, this literary tour-de-force gripped the Georgian public by the throat and held them riveted. As Walter Scott put it, the novel taps 'that secret and reserved feeling of love for the marvellous and supernatural, which occupies a hidden corner in almost everyone's bosom.'

And coming to Radio 4 later on this year, the gothic theme continues with a new adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, written as a parody in response to Walpole's novel.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002ldc4)
Chris Kraus

Presenter James Crawford welcomes American writer, filmmaker, and art critic Chris Kraus to Take Four Books to discuss her latest novel 'The Four Spent the Day Together'. This marks Kraus’ fifth semi-autobiographical novel, following the success of 'I Love Dick', which was adapted into a major television series.

The Four Spent the Day Together blends elements of childhood memoir, the experience of being the partner of a relapsing alcoholic, and an investigation into a real-life crime in a Minnesotan town.

Kraus also shares the three literary influences that inspired the novel: 'The Executioner’s Song' by Norman Mailer (1979), 'Main Street' by Sinclair Lewis (1920), and 'Hinterland' by Phil A. Neel (2018).

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


SUN 16:30 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023dqj)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity

1 - From Beer to Jurassic Park

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are on a mission from Beer to Eternity, in this warm and witty new podcast that celebrates new and half remembered trivia as they try to find entertaining links between random places, people and things.

Could you make your way from The Starship Enterprise to the Air Fryer, armed only with A Level Economics and a Geography degree? Hugh Dennis is going to have to. While Steve Punt will have to pick his way across Africa, to find what links Machiavelli and Madagascar. Across the series, they’ll be joined by guests including Ken Cheng, Kiri Pritchard McLean, Isy Suttie and Marcus Brigstocke, on a scenic route which takes in Shampoo, The Gruffalo, Watford Gap Services and Yoghurt.

Written and hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
With Jessica Fostekew
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
Recorded at Maple St Creative
Mixed by Jonathan Last

A Listen Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct743z)
Dancing in the Street: David Bowie and Mick Jagger

In July 1985, music legends Mick Jagger and David Bowie were asked to perform a duet with a twist at Live Aid, the biggest concert in pop history.

Utilising the latest satellite technology, Mick would perform on the US stage in Philadelphia, while David would perform on the UK stage at Wembley Stadium.

As the technical issues were being discussed, it soon became obvious that a half-second delay in the link between cities would prevent the live performance from happening, so a recording was planned instead.

A short list of songs was discussed before the duo finally settled on the Motown classic Dancing in the Street.

Live Aid press officer Bernard Doherty tells Des Shaw how the duet and video were recorded in just 18 hours and became a highlight of the benefit concert on 13 July 1985. A Zinc Media production.

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: Mick Jagger and David Bowie performing Dancing In The Street. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m002ldc9)
Shaun Usher, Katrina Naomi, Amani Saeed, Fran Edwards and Jennifer Jones

Shaun Usher's Letters of Note project became a cultural empire spanning multiple books, stage shows, and an online archive. He's now produced Diaries of Note - a collection of diary entries that span centuries from the great and the good . He discusses the relationship between a diary entry and a poem.

Katrina Naomi on her latest pamphlet of poems, Dance As If, in which she reconnects with her body, as a woman of a certain age, through the medium of dance.

Amani Saeed on the culmination of the Language Is A Queer Thing project which for the last three years has brought poets from India and England together to create new work.

Mother and daughter, Fran Edwards and Jennifer Jones, on Rebirth - a collection of poems which began as a private conversation reflecting on their relationship, during the pandemic.

Presenter Ian McMillan
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002ldcc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002ldcf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002ldch)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002ldck)
Babita Sharma

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002ldcm)
Will hatches a plan, and Tracy suffers a mishap.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002ld6d)
Problems with Julia Masli

There are so many problems in the world. For the past three years, Estonian clown Julia Masli - armed with a microphone taped to a mannequin leg - has been trying to solve them.

So far, during the performances of her live show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, where Julia asks audience members their problem, she has recorded 1574 problems. A few people feel homesick, some worry about the collapse of society, and many lament their retreating hairlines. But we are not alone with our problems: Janet is not the only one with a broken fridge. Simon shares his back pain. Alexandra might feel lonely, but Aisha does too.

This clown might not be able to solve all of our problems, but she’s going to try.

Photo: Cameron Whitman
Original music composed by Alessio Festuccia
Produced by Talia Augustidis and Julia Masli
Dramaturgy by Kim Noble (director of ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
Executive producers Alan Hall and Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0018gqq)
An Apple a Day

In this episode, Michael delves into the surprising research on the humble apple, revealing how it can help your heart, gut, and brain. He speaks to Dr Catherine Bondonno from Edith Cowan University in Australia to find out how and why simply eating more apples could reduce risk of dying early by up to 35%! They discuss what apples can do to our gut bacteria and blood vessels to keep them healthy. Meanwhile, our volunteer Lee overcomes sensory challenges, finding different ways of adding apples to his diet.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002l3hp)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002l3pt)
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 (m002ldcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002ldb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002ldcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002ldct)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (b07vs3v1)
Zeno's Paradoxes

After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter’s chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and depth of the subjects he and his experts have tackled. In this third of his choices, we hear Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Greek philosophy.

Their topic is Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic philosopher from c490-430 BC whose paradoxes were described by Bertrand Russell as "immeasurably subtle and profound." The best known argue against motion, such as that of an arrow in flight which is at a series of different points but moving at none of them, or that of Achilles who, despite being the faster runner, will never catch up with a tortoise with a head start. Aristotle and Aquinas engaged with these, as did Russell, yet it is still debatable whether Zeno's Paradoxes have been resolved.

With

Marcus du Sautoy
Professor of Mathematics and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford

Barbara Sattler
Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews

and

James Warren
Reader in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge

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

Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002l3pr)
Harry Swithenback's Private Visit by Alan Warner

The award-winning Scottish writer Alan Warner’s new and specially commissioned story sees an antiques expert off the telly – Harry Swithenback – arrive in at this unnamed harbour town for what he hopes is a few days of rest and relaxation, however, the townspeople have other ideas. Stuart McQuarrie reads.

Alan Warner, who as was born in Oban on the west coast of Scotland in 1964, is the author of several novels including: Morvern Callar (1995), which won the Somerset Maugham Prize and was adapted for the cinema by director Lynne Ramsay in 2002. It is published as a Vintage Classic. He also wrote These Demented Lands (1997), which won the Encore Award and The Sopranos/Our Ladies, (1998), which won the Saltire Book of the Year Award. His novel The Stars in the Bright Sky from 2010 was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Stuart McQuarrie is a television, film and theatre actor who has appeared in shows such as Taggart, Rab C Nesbitt, London’s Burning and Silent Witness. In film, he's also had notable roles in 28 Days Later, Terminator: Dark Fate and White Bird.

The producer is Dominic Howell.

MONDAY 27 OCTOBER 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002ldcw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Soul Music (m002b6j2)
May You Never

"May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold / May you never make your bed out in the cold."

A perfect folk song of brotherly affection, with simply voice and guitar, John's Martyn's May You Never has captured listeners' hearts since 1971.

John Martyn was born in Surrey in 1948 and grew up in Glasgow. Part of the potent London folk scene in the late 60s early 70s, John's style evolved from these folk roots. Written in his early 20s, the enduring version of May You Never was recorded in one take in the early hours of recording his beloved 1973 album, Solid Air. The lyrics encapsulate something of the essence of John Martyn: sweet, joyful and affectionate, yet with a hint of danger ("And may you never lose your temper / If you get in a bar room fight"). John's life was beset by substance abuse and addiction and he died in 2009, age 60.

May You Never, perhaps his most famous song, is remembered by those whose lives became entwined with the song, and by others who knew John or have covered it.

Featuring:
Michael Volpe, Executive Director of If Opera;
Lauren Bensted, a writer based in London;
Graeme Thomson, author of Small Hours: The Long Night of John Martyn;
Spencer Cozens, keyboard player and Musical Director in John Martyn's band from 1990-2009;
Blythe Pepino, Kit Hawes, Pete Josef and Sam Brookes from The John Martyn Project.

With thanks to Kit Hawes and Spencer Cozens for the instrumental recordings.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002ldcy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002ldd0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002ldd2)
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 (m002ldd4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002ldd6)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002ldd8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002lddb)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002lddd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002lddg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002ldfv)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002ldfy)
Crossing genres with Wayne McGregor

The internationally renowned choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor swaps stage for gallery in a landmark exhibition exploring his multifaceted career at Somerset House (from 30 Oct 2025–22 Feb 2026). ‘Infinite Bodies’ investigates how Wayne McGregor has combined body, movement and cutting-edge digital technologies to redefine perceptions of physical intelligence. Throughout the gallery space he draws together designers, musicians, engineers and dancers to bring the artworks to life.

The Booker prize winning novelist Anne Enright is in the studio to talk about her latest work, ‘Attention, Writing on Life, Art and the World’. Unlike her fiction, in these essays, Enright speaks directly to the reader, elucidating her thoughts on everything from family history to Irish politics and the control of women, to new perspectives on literary legends.

There’s a screen idol at the heart of Tanika Gupta’s new play, Hedda (at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, until 22nd November). Inspired by the life of Anglo-Indian film star Merle Oberon, Gupta sets her play just after India’s independence and transforms Ibsen’s classic into a story about power, identity and representation.

Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002ldg2)
Thought-provoking talks in which speakers explore original ideas about culture and society


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002ldg6)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktsy)
The Wombat

In this episode writer Katherine Rundell brings us the wombat - a creature adored by Victorian poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who described them as “a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness!” and kept two as pets. The wombat also has surprising physical prowess: it can sprint at 40 kilometres per hour and has a unique defensive tactic, using its reinforced rump to crush predators against the walls of its burrow.

To early settlers in Australia wombats were seen as pests and were hunted in huge numbers, with bounties introduced in the 1920s. Habitat destruction followed, and today, the common wombat is no longer common. The northern hairy-nosed wombat is now one of the rarest land mammals on Earth, with only around 400 individuals surviving.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


MON 11:00 The Tax Conundrum (m002ldgb)
Episode 2: The Possibilities

The debate about tax in the UK is generally parochial, even self-obsessed. But what if we lift our gaze? In the second episode of the Tax Conundrum Ben Chu asks what we could all learn from other countries. Ben travels to Estonia, which has pioneered a land value tax, something most tax experts regard as the most rational way to tax property and encourage building. He speaks to a Tallinn property developer to learn how it works in practice - and to ask how practical it would be to do something similar in Britain. He also takes a trip to Sweden, where, unlike the UK, Value Added Tax is charged on food and children’s clothes and asks shoppers in Stockholm why they’re not in uproar, as they undoubtedly would be in the UK if a politician dared to propose doing the same. The top income tax rate in Sweden is also above 50%. Ben talks to high earning Swedes about whether or not such rates discourage them from working - or whether the benefits in the form of more comprehensive public services like childcare make it worthwhile. Ben has the same conversation with workers in Estonia, which has a flat 22% income tax rate for everyone, regardless of their income. So is it wrong to assume that all the answers to the tax conundrum are to be found here in Britain?

Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: Ivana Davidovic
Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002ldgf)
1. Life Underwater

Take a deep dive with the intrepid journalist Rose George as she explores the slippery world of fish, and the industry that puts the species on our plates. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002ldgk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002ldgp)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002ldgt)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002ldgy)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6j3)
The House at Number 48

Spa Town

In July 1939, industrialist Rudolph Eisner, his wife Hildegard and their two young children arrive in the small port city of Harwich in England. Life as Germans in the Uk was tough. But what of Antony's relatives who stayed on in Germany, what became of them?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002ldcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Disordered (m001t2zg)
Series 1

Episode 1 - Free-Fall. Free Food

A comedy drama, written by Magnus Mackintosh, and starring Jamie Sives as Hector, an optimistic but struggling 42-year-old single father, with long-term mental health issues, who lives in Edinburgh with his unusually bright 10-year-old son William. He is aided by kindly friend and neighbour Susan and hindered by acerbic ex-partner Amanda.

In episode one, Free-Fall, Free Food, Hector has trouble with an unsympathetic job advisor and his callous landlady, and ends up having to resort to using the food bank, where a fiery encounter with an aggressive customer leaves Hector battered and bruised, literally and metaphorically. When acid tongued ex-partner Amanda pours oil on the flames by threatening to take custody of William, Hector is left in a fragile state. Thankfully caring, thoughtful neighbour Susan is there to help keep Hector’s head above water.

The writer, Magnus Mackintosh, has personally struggled with mental health issues over 27 years. He openly discusses his own mental health issues on social media in the hope he can help others and raise awareness.

Created and Written by Magnus Mackintosh

Cast
Hector- Jamie Sives
Susan- Rosalind Sydney
Amanda- Gail Watson
William- Raffi Phillips
Thresher- Steven McNicoll
Cleaver- Anita Vettesse
Man- Gordon Kennedy

Studio Engineer and Editor- Lee McPhail
Production Manager- Tayler Norris
Title Music- Just Breathe by Police Dog Hogan
Produced and Directed by Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy

Recorded at Castlesound Studios, Pencaitland, East Lothian

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Scenes from a Childhood by Jon Fosse (m001vkx2)
Episode One: Scenes from a Childhood (Part One)

A selection of connected short stories by the celebrated Norwegian author Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature - “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”. Minimalist and compelling, these pared-back vignettes take us from infancy to awkward adolescence, skirting the line between fiction and autobiography. Episodes one to three draw stories from the titular story sequence 'Scenes from a Childhood'; episodes four and five are taken from the story 'Little Sister'.

'the Beckett of the twenty-first century' - Le Monde

‘Fosse has been compared to Ibsen and to Beckett, and it is easy to see his work as Ibsen stripped down to its emotional essentials. But it is much more. For one thing, it has a fierce poetic simplicity.’ - New York Times

Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Read by John Mackay
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002ldh2)
Tom Cox and Sophie Scott

THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields, chosen by Tom Cox
HOW TO WRITE A THESIS by Umberto Eco, chosen by Sophie Scott
PARADISE by Abdulrazak Gurnah, chosen by Harriett Gilbert

Writer Tom Cox joins neuroscientist Sophie Scott to discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Tom's choice is the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Stone Diaries. Following the story of one woman’s life from birth to death, the novel also charts the unsettled decades of the twentieth century. Sophie puts forward a very different book, a non-fiction by Italian writer and academic, How to Write a Thesis. It first appeared on Italian bookshelves back in 1977, but still rings true for many. And finally, Harriett's choice is a historical novel called Paradise by the Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah, which is both a coming-of-age story, and a tale of the corruption against the backdrop of European colonialism in East Africa.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Becky Ripley

Join the conversation on Instagram: agoodreadbbc


MON 15:30 Curious Cases (m002ldh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002ldbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Legend (m002ldhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002ldhg)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002ldhl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m002ldhq)
Series 4

Yapping about Leicester

Paul Sinha tests a Leicester audience's knowledge about new words, the people of 2024, and a surprising connection between two modern pop stars. In return they ask him about shipyards, RoboCop, and politicians called James.

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

Original music: Tim Sutton

Recording engineer: Jerry Peal
Mixed by: Rich Evans
Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002ld5n)
Josh has a brainwave, and Eddie is on a mission.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002ldhv)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002l3hr)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002l3ht)
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 (m002ldfy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002ldg2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002ldj0)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002ldj4)
Episode 6

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m0025dvy)
Aldrich Kemp and The Rose of Pamir

4. The Missing Child

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

Chapter Four: The Missing Child

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

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

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

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

New episodes available on Fridays. Listen first on BBC Sounds

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002ldj8)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002ldjd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002ldgf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002ldjk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002ldjq)
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 (m002ldjv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002ldjx)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002ldjz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002ldk1)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002ldk3)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002ld51)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m002ld53)
Caroline Smith on meteorites and potential ancient life on Mars

Caroline Smith is passionate about space rocks, whether they’re samples collected from the surface of asteroids and the Moon and hopefully Mars one day soon, or meteorites, those alien rock fragments that have survived their fiery descents through our atmosphere to land here on Earth.

She is Head of Collections and Principal Curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum, home to one of the finest meteorite collections in the world. Her interest in rocks began while wandering the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, as a child, picking up the ones that caught her eye and bashing them with a hammer, hoping to find treasure inside, whether it’s gold, diamonds or dinosaur fossils.

Her work today, studying rocks that have landed here on Earth or those still out there in space, is no less ambitious. She analyses their chemical composition looking for tantalising clues that might reveal how our Solar System formed, and potentially the presence of the chemical building blocks necessary for life itself.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Beth Eastwood
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
BBC Studios Production


TUE 09:30 All in the Mind (m002ld55)
The show on how we think, feel and behave. Claudia Hammond delves into the evidence on mental health, psychology and neuroscience.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002ld57)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktt1)
The Ostrich

In this episode best-selling author Katherine Rundell tells us about the ostrich, the world’s largest living bird. Contrary to the myth - first recorded by Pliny the Elder - ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. Instead, they lie low with their heads flat to the ground, camouflaging themselves as rocks. Pliny also claimed they could digest iron; while not true, ostriches do swallow stones to help break down food, and in captivity, have been found with nails and metal in their stomachs.

Ostriches are built for speed and power. Chicks can run at 35 miles per hour within a month of hatching, and adults can take strides up to sixteen feet. Their powerful legs can deliver a fatal kick to predators, including lions.

But there has been a decline in ostrich species. The Arabian ostrich is now extinct, and the Somali ostrich is under threat from hunting and habitat loss. Despite their size and strength, ostriches remain vulnerable to human activity.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002l3q4)
The Naked Civil Servant

Mark and Ellen celebrate 50 years of the ground breaking TV drama, The Naked Civil Servant.

Mark speaks to Rob Halford of Judas Priest about how The Naked Civil Servant changed his life. Mark then talks to filmmaker and drag queen Amrou Al-Kadhi about how forward thinking the show was and its influence on their own work.

Ellen talks to historian Stephen Bourne about the impact of "The Naked Civil Servant" on British television.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002ld59)
2. A Coarse and Vulgar Woman

Journalist Rose George explores women's vital work in the fishing industry and we meet courageous Lil Bilocca who campaigned for better safety on the high seas. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002ld5d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002ld5g)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002ld5j)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002ld5l)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6j5)
The House at Number 48

Finding the Money

Antony tries to find out what became of his family's business empire and properties. To help him he hires a brilliant young researcher, Yana Slovona. Within weeks, she has made some startling discoveries.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002ld5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001fckt)
Whipped

Written by Becky Prestwich

This drama looks at the very rarely seen or heard detail of the life of a newly elected young, female MP, with fascinating detail of what it’s really like at Westminster. Meg’s party is in opposition but it’s on the way up, and so is she. But it's an uphill battle. She begins her working life in Westminster: the seat of democracy - with an office, perched between a sink and a clothes rail, in the ladies cloakroom. Newbies have to beg, borrow or steal an office. She has a love/hate relationship with the Chief Whip when her credibility is threatened.

Meg . . . . . Molly Windsor
Amina . . . . . Nina Wadia
Davey . . . . . Reuben Johnson
Noah . . . . . Jake Ferretti
Naomi . . . . . Verity Henry
Dad . . . . . Russell Richardson
Rory . . . . . Stanley Jude Kinsey

Production Co-ordinator: Pippa Day
Sound: Simon Highfield
Political advisor: Dr. Louise Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Politics at University of Manchester.
Producer: Pauline Harris


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m002ld5q)
History's Toughest Heroes

Constance Bulwer-Lytton: Suffragette Rebel

Constance Lytton was raised an aristocrat. But when she wakes up to women's suffrage, she goes undercover in solidarity, joining her working-class comrades in prison and staging a series of dangerous hunger strikes.

In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge.

As a lady, and part of the English upper-crust, when Constance Lytton was arrested for her involvement in the women's suffrage movement, she was given special treatment in prison. Desperate to be treated like everyone else, she disguised herself as the working-class ‘Jane Warton’. But when the time came to endure the horror of force feedings, it took everything she had to hold on to the mantra ‘no surrender’.

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

Producer: Michael LaPointe
Development Producer: Georgina Leslie
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Imogen Robertson
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vph)
Mamdani New York

Zohran Mamdani catapulted on to New York’s political scene this summer when he captured the Democratic nomination to run for Mayor this fall. A young politician, Mamdani campaigned on issues that mattered to New Yorkers including lowering the cost of living, but unlike other candidates, was not shy about making his Muslim faith a central talking point on the campaign trail. We explore how a single decision galvanized voters of different faiths across America’s biggest city, and delve into the social issues that divided those casting ballots – including the war in Gaza, Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and the divisiveness of the phrase, “globalize the intifada,” which Mamdani refused on multiple occasions to denounce. What was it about Mamdani that led Muslim voters to feel like they had a voice who will represent them as Mayor of New York City? Do Jewish voters feel let down? Will religion be the driving force behind voter mobilization come November, or will the high cost of living be the motivating factor for many across the Big Apple? We sit down with voters of varying views to find out.

[Photo Description: Zohran Mamdani campaign rally for mayor of New York City, Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein]

Presenter: Victoria Craig


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002ld5t)
Queen Victoria's Nightmares

A new discovery about the mental health and inner life of one of Britain’s most researched monarchs, Queen Victoria - from the unpublished diaries of her doctor. When Matthew Sweet first read these diaries, he couldn’t quite believe it. He was seeing a genuinely new, unpublished and unresearched document that revealed the closely guarded mental health struggles of Queen Victoria - a factual account in the personal diaries of Doctor Robert Ferguson, never intended for publication. Once kept locked and in private hands, these volumes are now available in the Royal College of Physicians.

Nowadays we hardly ever discover something new about a well known figure like Queen Victoria. So much has been written about her, so much has been researched – but this is not only a first which changes the way we’ll think about Victoria, it is also a factual account from her doctor, kept in his personal diaries – not court gossip, not speculation, not malicious rumour – but factual notes kept for posterity.

Dr Ferguson was Victoria’s ‘accoucheur’, her obstetrician, and he was called to see her in 1841, as a 22 year old mother of two, just after the birth of her heir. A “pale and haggard” Albert told him, “the Queen has heard you have paid much attention to mental disease, and she is afraid she is about to lose her mind! She sees visions and hears sounds… she thinks of worms eating her, and is weeping and wretched”.

Years before modern day psychoanalysis and the couch, Victoria’s mental landscape sounds like something from Freud.

Prof Mariusz Misztal of Krakow University is researching these diaries, and confirms Matthew Sweet’s belief that nothing like this exists in Victorian studies. Though the diaries are now in the public domain, this story has never been explored before.

In his journey to understand the experiences of the Queen, Matthew Sweet is also joined by Leading Psychoanalyst Susie Orbach (therapist to Princess Diana and author of classic Fat is a Feminist Issue), historian Fern Riddell (author of Victoria's Secret), and Dream Scientist Caroline Horton (Professor of Sleep and Cognition at Lincoln Bishop University). With readings from Dr Ferguson's diaries by Jason Barnett.

Presenter: Matthew Sweet
Producer: Allegra McIlroy


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002ld5w)
What should we do about false memories?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.

In this episode, the Docs are returning to the topic of memory, delving into the concept of false memories. Chris and Xand are curious about how and why false memories form, whether there’s anything we can do to guard against them, and why they aren’t necessarily something we should worry about.

They are joined once again by Dr Linda Henkel, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Fairfield University.

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: Dr Linda Henkel
Producers: Maia Miller-Lewis and Jo Rowntree
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Researcher: William Hornbrook
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Social Media: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Ruth Rainey

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

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m002ld5y)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002ld60)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (m002ld62)
Series 14

4. Cambridge

Comedian Mark Steel visits towns across the UK and creates a show for a local audience.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002ld64)
Lilian is in for a surprise, and Justin sets boundaries.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002ld66)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002ld68)
News-making original journalism investigating stories at home and abroad


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002ld6b)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Illuminated (m002ld6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m002l3hc)
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002ld6g)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002ld6j)
Episode 7

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (b0bfxxm4)
Series 4

Livy

Join Natalie Haynes and guests for half an hour of comedy and the Classics from the BBC Radio Theatre in London.

Natalie is a recovering comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. Each week she takes a different figure from the Ancient World and tells their story through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.

Today she stands up in the name of Roman historian Livy, who gave us Hannibal crossing the Alps and the inspiration for Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Meticulously researched facts or a damn fine story? History or myth? Mostly the latter, but priceless nonetheless.

Elephants, early science and a lot of essential information from a thousand years ago.

With special guests comedian - and history buff - Al Murray and classicist Professor Llewelyn Morgan.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002ld6l)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002ld6n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002ld59)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002ld6q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002ld6s)
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 (m002ld6v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002ld6x)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002ld6z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002ld71)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002ld73)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002lfvy)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m002lfjf)
The price of North Sea Oil

Richard Dailey died in 1975, the victim of a freak wave that swept him overboard from the derrick barge on which he was working in the North Sea, no far from the Forties field. His daughter Angie was just five years old, and the news of his death was one of her first memories. But the impact of that loss was far more difficult to understand and over the years it caused tension between Angie and her mother Gwen, although they received compensation and support for their loss. It was only when Gwen, diagnosed with cancer, came to live with Angie and her husband during the last months of her life that the two were reconciled. Gwen left Angie a box of old letters and photographs from her father, which she never got round to opening. Then, a few years later and coming up to the 50th anniversary of his death something made Angie want to mark his life. Her search lead her to the Oil and Gas Chaplaincy in Aberdeen, who hold an annual service remembering those who have lost their lives in the North Sea Oil business. They listened to the story of Angie's father and eventually agreed to include his name in their book of remembrance, as well as inviting Angie and her husband up for the November service where she was able to light a candle in his name. The impact of that ceremony was immense. She came away understanding that she'd been living with an unresolved anger which had been lifted. And she also felt able to tackle the box her mother had left. In it were letters and pictures that finally helped her know her father and understand her part in his life.

Producer: Tom Alban


WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m002kt8c)
The Magnificent O'Connors

5. Shame the Devil

In 1995, a mysterious man phones the O’Connors. He wants to get something off his chest. Sensing something potentially huge, Nemone secretly records their meeting. What happened next could have change everything. The secret the mysterious man wants to share? He knows who killed Donk Ambridge.

Meanwhile Ragnar is forced to confront everything he thought he knew about this case and his father. Hidden in the family archive is an account of the night Donk Ambridge was murdered that could turn everything upside down.

Presenter: Ragnar O’Connor
Producer: Emily Esson, Victoria McArthur
Research: Elizabeth Ann Duffy, Louise Yeoman
Script Assistant and Additional Research: Marisha Currie
Actors: Cameron Jack, Irene Macdougall
Script Writers: Emily Esson, Jack Kibble-White
Original Music: Lomond Campbell
Theme Music: Barry Jackson
Addition mixing and sound effects: Charlie McPhee, Kayleigh Raphel
Story Consultant: Jack Kibble-White
Script Editor: Graham Russell
Executive Editor: Gillian Wheelan
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

Thanks to Cheryl Field, Richard Field and Kirsty Williams


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002lfw0)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktt2)
The Dragonfly

In this episode writer Katherine Rundell looks at the dragonfly - an insect with a prehistoric past. Around 300 million years ago, dragonfly-like creatures called meganeura had wingspans up to two feet and preyed on amphibians and insects. Today’s dragonflies are much smaller, but no less remarkable.

There are over 3,000 species, ranging from Britain’s golden-ringed dragonfly to the bright pink roseate skimmer. The globe skimmer dragonfly is known for its extraordinary migration across the Indian Ocean, travelling thousands of miles without stopping.

But climate change is having an influence on them. Males in cooler regions have darker wings to absorb heat, and as global temperatures rise, scientists are observing a shift toward lighter, even colourless wings.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002ld68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002lfjx)
October 27th to November 2nd

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

This week: 27th October to 2nd November

31st October 1984 - Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi is assassinated
28th October 1726 - "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift is published.
30th October 1974 - Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in 'The Rumble In The Jungle'

Presented by Viji Alles and Caroline Nicholls
Produced by Stuart Ross and Amanda Litherland


WED 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002lfw2)
3. Fishing Work and Saving Lives

The journalist Rose George explores the moral code that has made fearless and skilful rescuers of Britain's fishermen past and present. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002lfw4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002lfw6)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002lfw8)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002lfwb)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6j7)
The House at Number 48

The Gift

After 80 years since losing a huge and grand property in Germany which used to belonged to his family, Antony sets off to confront the people who now own The House at Number 48.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002ld64)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001hfbv)
Back Home

By May Sumbwanyambe. Noreen returns to her native Zambia after 20 years in the UK. As the head of a wildlife charity she’s come back to give a speech about animal conservation in Africa but her family - who haven’t seen her since she left as a young student - want to talk about difficult issues closer to home.

Noreen ..... Rakie Ayola
Mwemba ..... Adam Courting
Moses ..... Ben Onwukwe

Producer/director: Bruce Young

May Sumbwanyambe researched and wrote the play while he was a Leverhulme Trust artist-in-residence at the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, and research assistance was provided by Molly Brown.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m002lfwd)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


WED 15:30 The Artificial Human (m002lfwg)
Can AI do my Christmas Shopping?

Aleks and Kevin explore the world of Ai agents, artificial intelligence that can go out and act in the world on your behalf. And with festive season only weeks away, what they really want to know is could it do your Christmas shopping for you?

They hear from Peter Cross ex-customer experience director at John Lewis and Waitrose about whether an Ai could ever be your personal shopper before finding out from human-computer interaction researcher Professor Tamilla Triantoro about how far off these technologies are and will they ready before we have to brave the high street in that last minute Christmas dash.

Presenters: Aleks Krotoski & Kevin Fong
Producer: Peter McManus
Researchers: Rachael O'Neil & Jac Phillimore
Sound: Tim Heffer


WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002lffh)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002lffk)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002lfwj)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002lfwl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Carbon Lifeforms (m002lfwn)
Waste Management and Recycling

Jon Long and Dr Tara Shine join forces for more of the hybrid comedy-magazine show that emits jokes and facts that (carbon) capture all things climate to demystify the issues and offer advice on how to make positive choices in our everyday lives.

This week - Waste Management and Recycling with special guests Athena Kugblenu and Joe Iles from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

In previous episodes we’ve covered Food, Travel and Christmas, so what’s next? Well, it turns out that our previous episodes did not solve the climate crisis on their own. So, for this series, we will be looking at the topics of The Carbon Cost of Tech, The Internet and AI, Waste Management and Recycling, and The Fashion Footprint.

Expect new in-studio guests and on-location experts, more games, more practical advice, more cold hard stats, and the return of Greenwash of the Week to shout out the heroes and villains of the climate crisis.

Presenters: Jon Long and Dr Tara Shine
Guests: Athena Kugblenu and Joe Iles
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
Live Sound: Jerry Peal
Post-production Sound: Tony Churnside

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002lfdt)
Freddie makes a significant gesture, and Pip receives a helping hand.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002lfwq)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002l3ph)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 20:45 Superhead (m00237zd)
Episode 4 - Disruptive in Class

John Dickens has been investigating Trevor Averre-Beeson for the best part of a decade. Averre-Beeson was once one of the most prominent examples of the generation of “Superheads” that Tony Blair and Michael Gove backed in turn to help transform failing schools in Britain. He built an education empire around a large academy trust, Lilac Sky.

But in 2016, that empire suddenly and rapidly collapsed, sparking a scandal that sent shockwaves through the world of education.

John Dickens explores the inside story behind the rise and fall of one of Britain’s most charismatic educators, and investigates whether the rapid growth - and precipitous collapse - of Lilac Sky exposes weaknesses in regulation that the government has failed to fully reckon with.

In Episode 4, the trust becomes suddenly mired in scandal.

Producers: Robert Nicholson and Charlie Towler
Sound Design: Simon Jarvis
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m002ld53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 All in the Mind (m002ld55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002lfwt)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002lfww)
Episode 8

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 Tom & Lauren Are Going OOT (m0022cgb)
Series 1

3. Golf for Orphans

Lauren forgets about an important charity fundraiser for work and hurriedly tries to get ready. Tom returns home from work covered in face paint, after his class craft day gets a bit out of hand. Their efforts to make the fundraiser are further hampered by a coy Neil, who appears to have intercepted a parcel intended for Lauren.

Special guest appearance by Julian Clary as Neil.

Cast:
TOM MACHELL as Tom
LAUREN PATTISON as Lauren
JULIAN CLARY as Neil

Writers: Tom Machell & Lauren Pattison
Director: Katharine Armitage
Recording Engineer: Tom Glenwright
Sound Design: Philip Quinton
Theme Music: Scrannabis
Producers: Maria Caruana Galizia & Zahra Zomorrodian

A Candle & Bell Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Humanwatch (m002lfwy)
3. Pubs, Pretending and Pizza Delivery

The team delve into the confusing world of acting and wonder if it is purely for fun or a little more sinister?

Researcher Alison is sent to the pub on a mission to find out why humans are so obsessed with alcohol, while caller Doris sparks an interesting discussion on delivery drivers.

Written and presented by Marjolein Robertson and Gareth Waugh

With Phil Ellis, Katia Kvinge and Alison Spittle

Produced by Lauren Mackay

Sound by Fraser Jackson

Photographer: Chris Quilietti

A BBC Scotland production for Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002lfx0)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002lfx2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002lfw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002lfx4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002lfx6)
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 (m002lfx8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002lfxb)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002lfxd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002lfxg)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002lfxj)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002lfd4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (b08wmk5j)
Bird Migration

In a programme first broadcast in 2017, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why some birds migrate and others do not, how they select their destinations and how they navigate the great distances, often over oceans. For millennia, humans set their calendars to birds' annual arrivals, and speculated about what happened when they departed, perhaps moving deep under water, or turning into fish or shellfish, or hibernating while clinging to trees upside down. Ideas about migration developed in C19th when, in Germany, a stork was noticed with an African spear in its neck, indicating where it had been over the winter and how far it had flown. Today there are many ideas about how birds use their senses of sight and smell, and magnetic fields, to find their way, and about why and how birds choose their destinations and many questions. Why do some scatter and some flock together, how much is instinctive and how much is learned, and how far do the benefits the migrating birds gain outweigh the risks they face?

With

Barbara Helm
Reader at the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow

Tim Guilford
Professor of Animal Behaviour and Tutorial Fellow of Zoology at Merton College, Oxford

and

Richard Holland
Senior Lecturer in Animal Cognition at Bangor University

Producer: Simon Tillotson.


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002lfd7)
Armando Iannucci and guests decode the utterly baffling world of political language


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002lfd9)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktt4)
The Elk

In this episode best-selling author Katherine Rundell focuses on the elk - known in North America as the moose. It’s the largest species of deer, standing up to seven feet tall at the shoulder. Only males grow antlers, which can expand at a rate of an inch a day. Historical accounts include Tycho Brahe keeping an elk as a companion, and Olaus Magnus claiming they were once banned as riding animals in Sweden due to their speed.

The elk has been extinct in Britain for thousands of years, but its population has fluctuated elsewhere. The Caucasian moose disappeared in the 20th century, but other populations have recovered. In Poland, numbers rose from just 2,000 in the 1990s to around 30,000 after hunting was halted.

Elk have also returned to parts of the United States where they hadn’t been seen since the 19th century, including Massachusetts and Colorado. The episode highlights the elk as a symbol of how conservation efforts, when sustained and focused, can reverse the decline of even the largest and most vulnerable species.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002lfdc)
In-depth conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives across theatre, visual arts, music, dance, film and more. Hosted by John Wilson.


THU 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002lfdf)
4. Before, There Were Fish

Journalist Rose George travels to Senegal and at the fish market the problem of overfishing becomes apparent. For local fish workers, too many days pass by with nothing to do. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002lfdh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m002lfdk)
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002lfdm)
Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims.


THU 12:57 Weather (m002lfdp)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002lfdr)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6jb)
The House at Number 48

The Inheritance

We meet the descendants of Martin Hartig who are still living in the House at Number 48 today. How much of their family's past did they know about? And what has its legacy meant for them and the younger generation?

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002lfdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002lfdw)
Samhain

By Ben Lewis.

Soulful drama infused with storytelling and song, inspired by the myths and rituals surrounding the Pagan festival of Samhain.

Claire and her husband David are staying in a isolated old house on the remote Scottish island of Jura.
It’s the end of October. Of all the nights of the year, this is the one when the veil between this world and the next is said to be at its thinnest. Claire’s past is about to reach out into her present...

Cast in Order of Appearance :

Chloe Pirrie
Emun Elliot
Bryan Dick

Music performed by Anna Massie
Sound Design by Kris McConnachie

Production Co-ordinator: Rosalind Gibson
Studio Production: Keith Graham

Directed by Kirsty Williams


THU 15:00 Ramblings (m002lfdy)
Nick Wilson - the Disabled Adventurer

Clare joins Nick Wilson for a circuit around Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire. A former soldier, Nick now uses a powerchair after a spinal injury and years of chronic pain made walking impossible. He has experienced homelessness and battled depression, yet has found the strength to launch his ‘Disabled Adventurer’ project.
Through this initiative, Nick creates social media videos about the accessibility of natural spaces, leads wheelchair skills workshops, and collaborates with national organisations to make the outdoors more inclusive.

Nick and his support worker, Matthew, brought along a spare powerchair for Clare. With their guidance, she navigated a stretch of the reservoir’s wide, accessible paths. As Nick explained, having access to outdoor spaces and continuing to pursue his love of adventure - albeit in a different way - has helped him rediscover a sense of enjoyment, achievement, and purpose.

Map: OS Explorer 223 Northampton and Market Harborough Map Ref: (car park) SP 752 694

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002ldb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m002lff0)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002lff2)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m002lff4)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m002lff6)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002lff8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Call Jonathan Pie (p0fsyrdt)
7. Comedy

When Pie says a very bad word in a meeting he is asked to apologise. Instead of doing just that however, he decides that it was “just a joke” and that he is a victim of cancel culture. He then hijacks the entire show to discuss the state of free speech in comedy. When Jules and Roger both implore him to apologise he is enraged even further. Can Jules persuade him to stop being a tit in time for him to save his job?

Jonathan Pie ..... Tom Walker

Jules ..... Lucy Pearman

Sam ..... Aqib Khan

Roger ..... Nick Revell

Agent ..... Daniel Abelson
Voiceovers ..... Bob Sinfield and Rob Curling


Callers ... .Daniel Abelson, Adam Byron, Jonathan Tafler, and Emma Thornett
Writer ..... Tom Walker

Script Editor ..... Nick Revell

Producers ..... Alison Vernon-Smith andJulian Mayers


Production Coordinator ..... Ellie Dobing

Original music composed by Jason Read
Additional music Leighton James House



A Yada-Yada Audio Production.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002lffc)
George looks set for disappointment, and Vince makes his feelings clear.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002lfff)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002lffh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002lffk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002lffm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002lfd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002lffp)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002lffr)
Episode 9

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002lfft)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002lffw)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002lffy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002lfdf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002lfg0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002lfg2)
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 (m002lfg4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002lfg6)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002lfg8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002lfgb)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002lfgd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002lfh4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002ldbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002lfh8)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 10:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ktt6)
The Human

In the final episode of A Carnival of Animals, best-selling author Katherine Rundell turns her attention to the most complex and contradictory creature of all: the human.

She begins with a stark truth - the idea that the Earth is ours to use as we please is a dangerous lie, one that has driven a 70% decline in global wildlife populations over the past fifty years. More than a million species now face extinction, and the consequences of human action are accelerating.

But this is not just a story of loss. It’s also a call to action. Humans are capable of astonishing ingenuity and compassion, and the tools for change are already in our hands. From divesting from fossil fuels to reimagining how we live and consume, the episode urges us to begin today.

To end, Katherine Rundell tells the ancient story of the Sibylline books - a tale of warnings ignored until it was almost too late, based on the version told by the late Douglas Adams. It’s a parable for our time, and a reminder that while no one can save everything, everyone can save something.

Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002lfhd)
Eels and Elvers

Dan Saladino looks at why eels numbers are plummeting and asks if the species can be saved. On the River Severn he meets the last of the glass eel fishermen and conservationists.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


FRI 11:45 Every Last Fish by Rose George (m002lfhj)
5. Farming Salmon

The journalist Rose George visits a salmon farm in Norway, encounters 'cleaner' fish, and ponders the future of aquaculture more generally as the world's appetite for fish dinners remains. Dorothy Atkinson reads.

Rose George reminds us that Samuel Coleridge thought of fish as nothing more than ‘slimy things’ in the water. In her new book she observes that today, we see fish mostly as food, and she invites us to reconsider, to think beyond our dinner plates and to go out and wonder at this glorious species and the oceans they inhabit. As our appetites for fish grow and the health benefits of these watery dwellers are widely disseminated, George asks where our lunches, pet food, supplements and garden fertilizers in the shape of fishmeal are going to come through. As fish stocks continue to diminish and artisanal fishing practices are dwindling George asks hard questions. We'll hear about the impact of over fishing; the plight of the Senegalese fishing industry; the question of fish farms, and also a celebration of fishwives, along with stories of the heroic fisherman who saved lives during the world wars and continue do so on our most perilous seas.

Dorothy Atkinson is the reader. She is acclaimed for her work in theatre, film and television. She has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh most notably Mr Turner. She is well known for playing Pauline in the sitcom Mum. Recent work includes Ludwig, Joan, Saltburn, Without Sin, Pennyworth, Harlots and Call the Midwife.

Rose George is the author of A Life Removed: Hunting for Refuge in the Modern World (long-listed for the Ulysses Reportage Prize), The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste (Portobello, 2008; shortlisted for the BMA Book Prize) and Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything (Portobello, 2013; winner of a Mountbatten Maritime Award), and Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood (Portobello, 2018).

Rose writes frequently for the Guardian, New Statesman and many other publications, and her two TED talks, on sanitation and seafaring, have had 3 million views.

Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Elizabeth Allard


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002lfhp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002lfhs)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002lfhx)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002lfj2)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 The History Podcast (m002l6jc)
The House at Number 48

The Last Eisner

The Eisners prized art work, Eisenwalzwerk, depicting a huge steel factory, was stolen under the Nazis.
"Eisenwalzwerk," Antony says, "is the ultimate representation of the Eisners. And its story was the story of my family."
Can Antony get it back and bring it home? And in this final episode, he gathers his family to tell them what he's discovered about their past.

The House at Number 48 is presented by Charlie Northcott.
The series producer is Jim Frank.
Sound design and mixing by Tom Brignell.
The Editor is Matt Willis.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002lffc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002ktsg)
The Betrayed

Episode 4. Badboy

A five-part drama about a family - and a society - divided by far-right populist extremism.

When Louise a senior officer in the Garda Síochána sees her brother Frank on the news, taking part in an aggressive far-right protest she is shocked. Not least because she is and she had no idea Frank had been influenced by the populist extremists who hurl accusations of being 'traitors' at police and politicians alike.

In the aftermath, Frank's face doesn't show up on CCTV. But when she threatens to have him arrested, he accepts the deal she reluctantly offers - she will cover for him if he promises to stay away from demos and protests.

But then Louise learns that Frank is connected to a much wider network. He's in touch with organised extremists throughout Europe, Louise realises that Frank is on a path that could bring Ireland, and other countries, to the brink of chaos. The time has come to break up his network, whatever the family consequences.

LOUISE KENNY … Niamh Algar

FRANK KENNY … Jonathan Forbes

KEVIN … Stephen Hogan

TONY … Aidan O'Callaghan

DERVLA … Karen Ardiff

MICHAEL GRIFFITHS … Jonathan Harden

BASTIAN … Nicholas Murchie

JOE … James Downie

SORCHA … Amy McAllister

MARYAM … Lara Sawalha

Directed by Eoin O’Callaghan
A Big Fish/BBC N Ireland Production for Limelight


FRI 14:45 In the Loop (m001nghz)
1. Stone Circle

…a circle has no beginning and no end. It represents rebirth and regeneration, continuity and infinity. From wedding rings to stone circles, in poetry, music and the trajectories of the planets themselves, circles and loops are embedded in our imaginations.

In this five-part series poet Paul Farley goes walking in circles in five very different ‘loopy’ locations. He visits a traffic roundabout, a rollercoaster and a particle accelerator to ask why human beings find rings and circles so symbolic, significant and satisfying.

The earliest civilisations were drawn to the idea of closing a circle and creating a loop; in human relationships we’d all rather be within the circle of trust; and in arts and music our eyes, ears and minds are inexorably drawn towards – and rebel against - the ‘strange loops’ of Bach, Gödel and Escher.

As he puts himself in the loop – sometimes at the centre and sometimes on the circumference – Paul has circular conversations with mathematicians and physicists, composers and poets. Each one propels him into a new loop of enquiry. And that’s because a circle has no beginning and no end…
.
The first episode brings Paul around to the 5000 year-old stone circle at Castlerigg in Cumbria – a ring of stones within a ring of hills. With archaeologists Gill Hey and Richard Bradley he considers what circles represented to our Neolithic forebears and how sites like Castlerigg informed their view of the Universe. And, with Eugenia Cheng, he discovers what a circle actually means to a mathematician .

Producer: Jeremy Grange


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002lfj6)
Phyllis Court

Peter Gibbs and a panel of green-fingered gurus head to the Phyllis Court Club in Henley-on-Thames, where a lively audience of passionate gardeners awaits answers to their most pressing plant problems.

Joining Peter are pest and disease specialist Pippa Greenwood, head gardener Matthew Pottage, and the ever-enthusiastic plantswoman Christine Walkden.

Senior Producer: Dan Cocker
Junior producer: Rahnee Prescod

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002lfj9)
Salt River by Alys Conran

Original Short Fiction by Alys Conran.

Little Angharad is caught between opposing tides - her depressed mother and Anti Mari - to escape she wanders the muddy edges of the Menai Strait, collecting sea snails.

Reader: Lisa Jên Brown
Production Co-ordinator: Eleri McAuliffe
Sound: Nigel Lewis
Producer: John Norton

A BBC Audio Wales Production


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002lfjc)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


FRI 16:30 Life Changing (m002lfjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002lfjh)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002lfjk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m002lfjm)
Series 3

Episode 1

From host Andrew Hunter Murray and The Skewer's Jon Holmes, Radio 4’s freshest Friday night comedy The Naked Week returns with a blend of the silly and serious. From satirical stunts to studio set pieces via guest correspondents and investigative journalism it's a bold, audacious take not only on the week’s news, but also the way it’s packaged and presented.

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002lfjq)
Writer: Sarah Hehir
Director: Helen Aitken
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Josh Archer…. Angus Imrie
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Pip Archer…. Daisy Badger
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Vince Casey…. Tony Turner
Justin Elliott….. Simon Williams
Miranda Elliott…. Lucy Fleming
Amber Gordon…. Olivia Bernstone
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
George Grundy…. Angus Stobie
Will Grundy…. Philip Molloy
Chelsea Horrobin…. Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Ridell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Esme Mulligan…. Ellie Pawsey
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Lawrence


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002lfjs)
Frankenstein

Ellen and Mark explore the enduring appeal of Frankenstein.

Mark speaks to director Guillermo Del Toro on his new adaptation of the classic novel and why the Frankenstein story has had such an influence on his career.

Ellen then talks to critic Anne Billson about the history of Frankenstein throughout cinema history as well as speaking to director Bomani J. Story on his interpretation in his film, The Angry Black Girl and her Monster.

Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002lfjv)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002lfjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Uncanny (m002lfjz)
Series 5

Case 1. The Haunted Street – Halloween Special

A special hour-long live investigation recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre for Halloween. Virginia moves to a quiet street in the city of Bath with her young family. A series of strange events cause her to doubt her own sanity, until an exchange with a neighbour reveals that she's not the only one experiencing scary occurrences...

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editing and sound design: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme music by Lanterns on the Lake
Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002lfk2)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 North Woods by Daniel Mason (m002lfk4)
Episode 10

Daniel Mason's North Woods is a time-spanning novel chronicling four centuries of human and natural history centred on a yellow house and its surrounding woods in Massachusetts, New England.

Through varied narrative styles, the book follows a diverse cast of fascinating inhabitants, from Puritan lovers to a lovelorn painter, a fraudulent mystic, a farmer, a slave hunter, a detectorist, twin sisters, a crime reporter. It even includes the stories of panthers and beetles, whilst exploring themes of memory, fate, and the interconnectedness of life with the environment.

The novel also incorporates historical documents and diverse literary formats to create a genre-defying tapestry of stories and music within the same location.

Read by
Hannah Traylen &
Daniel Weyman

Abridged by Lucy Ellis

Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8byn)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002lfk7)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament