SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002mn1f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 The End of Family? By Zoe Strimpel (m002mn03)
5. Families of the Future

In Zoe Strimpel's series on family in contemporary Britain, the journalist asks some thought provoking questions. Today, thoughts on alternatives to traditional, nuclear family structures, and what family life could look like in the future.

In her specially commissioned series for Radio 4, Zoe Strimpel grapples with the role family plays in British society. Across the five episodes she considers a number of thorny themes. First of all Strimpel looks at the enduring appeal of marriage for those couples who have decided to tie the knot, she then turns her attention to what happens after the wedding presents have been opened and family life begins. The gendered case for the family is under the spot light as she assesses the seismic social changes that have taken place in the wake of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. Later in the series she'll ask about the outcomes for children caught in the crossfire of warring parents who live apart, or under the same roof, and lastly she'll consider alternatives to the conventional nuclear family.

Zoe Strimpel is an author, newspaper columnist and broadcaster. She has a PhD in modern British history and the history of feminism, gender and intimacy.

The producer is Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002mn1h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002mn1k)
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 (m002mn1m)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002mn1p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002mn1r)
An invitation from St Andrew

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


SAT 05:45 In the Loop (m001p7f1)
5. Particle Accelerator

…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 stone circle, a roundabout and a rollercoaster to ask why human beings find rings and circles so symbolic, significant and satisfying.

Paul has circular conversations with mathematicians and physicists, composers and poets, each one propelling him into a new loop of enquiry. And that’s because a circle has no beginning and no end…

Paul's final circle is 27 kilometres in circumference and lies deep beneath the Swiss/French border. The Large Hadron Collider is a ring of supercooled magnets which accelerates subatomic particles to unimaginable speeds and smashes them together. Melissa Yexley and Simon Albright from CERN are Paul’s guide to an extraordinary loop which is revealing the secrets of the Universe. Physicist Paddy Regan explains the cosmic forces which keep our planet locked in orbit around the Sun. And we close the loop with dance teacher Karen Michaelsen as we explore the power of linking hands and dancing in circles.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002myqq)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002mp9y)
Sarah Perry

The Essex Serpent author Sarah Perry takes Martha Kearney to see the great rook and jackdaw roost at Buckenham Carrs in Norfolk. At dusk thousands of birds descend to settle in the trees for the night, a sight that Sarah finds both magical and comforting. She explains the role that nature plays in her novels, as active as any other character.

Sarah Perry is the author of After Me Comes the Flood, The Essex Serpent, Melmoth, Enlightenment and Death of an Ordinary Man.

Producer: Beth O'Dea


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002myqs)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002myqv)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002myqx)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002myqz)
Ben Miller, Synaesthesia, Women's Football, and the Inheritance Tracks of Chris and Xand van Tulleken

Ben Miller joins Adrian for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m002myr1)
Series 24

Planetary Wobble

Could you survive an eternal winter? Or is endless summer sun a more appealing prospect? Lots of us are grateful for the seasonal changes that shape the world around us, but this week Hannah and Dara are asking what life would look like without the axial tilt that brings each hemisphere closer and further away from the sun as the seasons change each year. Listener Andrew from Melbourne wants to know what would happen if the planet stood perfectly upright, no lean, no tilt, no seasons. But what else could happen? Is Earth’s 23-degree slant the cosmic fluke that made life possible?
To find out, Hannah and explore how losing the tilt reshapes climate, ecosystems, evolution and maybe even the fate of the dinosaurs.

You can send your everyday mysteries for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Contributors
Dr Robin Smith - Climate modelling researcher at the University of Reading
Professor Rebecca Kilner - Evolutionary Biologist and Head of the Department of Zoology at Cambridge
Professor Amaury Triaud - Professor of Exoplanetology at the University of Birmingham
Aidan McGivern - Meteorologist and Senior weather presenter at the MET Office

Producer: Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002myr3)
Series 50

Birmingham

Jay Rayner and the panel are at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham answering questions from an audience of keen home cooks. Joining Jay to discuss noodle soup and microwave meals are chefs, cooks and food writers Jocky Petrie, Tim Anderson and Jeremy Pang, and materials experts Dr Zoe Laughlin.

Jay and the panel share their best vegetarian bakes for a packed lunch, their top noodle soup recipes to make at home, and answer the most philosophical of questions - what's the point in cavolo nero?

Situated in Birmingham, home to one of the UK's largest Vietnamese communities, Jay chats to local restaurateur, Oliver Ngo from Vietnamese Street Kitchen about the flavour profiles, toppings and variations of a pho.

Produced by Dulcie Whadcock
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002myr5)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002myr7)
Nigeria's school kidnapping crisis

Kate Adie introduces stories from Nigeria, Ukraine, the United States, Sweden and France.

Nigeria's president, Bola Tinubu, has declared a nationwide security emergency amidst a spate of kidnappings in the country’s north. More than 250 children abducted from a Catholic school last week are still missing, according to authorities. Mayeni Jones reports from Minna, in Niger state.

Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Kyiv and Geneva have all hosted peace negotiations this week, but despite the distances travelled, is an end to the war in Ukraine any closer? BBC Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse has been watching the latest efforts to end the war, as nightly assaults continue in many Ukrainian cities.

When Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, he was quick to repeal a range of policies introduced by the previous administration. Among them, a moratorium on Federal Executions. Hilary Andersson was recently selected as a media witness for an execution in Oklahoma.

The longest strike in the modern history of Sweden recently passed its second anniversary. It’s a simple argument: whether or not to recognize the right of the union to negotiate on behalf of its members. Tim Mansel meets the mechanics taking on one of the world's richest companies, Tesla.

And finally, we head to the Loire Valley in central France, where over centuries the steady flow of the Allier River has shaped the distinctive setting for a small village. While the ebb and flow of the river has long influenced life in the region, the effects of climate change mean its future is now less certain. Sara Wheeler reflects on its unusual evolution.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002myr9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002myrc)
Cash ISA Change and Carers Allowance

The Chancellor announced dozens of changes in the Budget that will affect the money in your pocket from wages and energy bills to savings. Many of them won't happen for some time - years in some cases - so we look at the more imminent tax changes. That will include the freezing of tax thresholds that will see higher taxes for many and changes to the Cash ISA limits.

A "bewildering system" of benefits - that's how the author of a new report has described the plight of tens of thousands of unpaid carers who were thrown into debt because of the overpayment of Carer's Allowance. This week an independent review was published that's been a year in the making. It started because carers had been working but had unwittingly slipped over the amount they're able to earn before losing their Carer's Allowance - a payment they're entitled to if they care for someone for over 35 hours a week, leaving them in debt to the government. Paul Lewis interviews the author of the report Liz Sayce, who has told Money Box the government must implement her recommendations "at pace".

And, the families of thousands of people who were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C by the NHS when it used contaminated blood in the 1970s and 80s will not have to pay tax on the compensation many of them are still waiting for. That commitment came from Rachel Reeves in the Budget, after Money Box reported on a campaign to ensure those relatives weren't subject to inheritance tax bills of tens of even hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 29th November 2025)


SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m002mn0y)
Series 3

A Budget, A Bombshell, and a Bedtime Story.

This week, The Naked Week fingers some fudge, profits from the spoils of war, and reads everyone a lovely bedtime story with a very special guest.

From host Andrew Hunter Murray and The Skewer's Jon Holmes, Radio 4’s newest 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.

Host: Andrew Hunter Murray
Guests: Kate Cheka, Janet Ellis

Investigations Team: Cat Neilan, Cormac Kehoe, Freya Shaw

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Jason Hazeley
James Kettle

Additional Material:
Karl Minns
Molly Punshon
Helen Brooks
Pete Redfern
Cooper Mawhinny Sweryt
Kevin Smith
David Riffkin

Additional Music:
Jake Yapp

Live Sound: Jerry Peal
Post Production: Tony Churnside
Clip Assistant: David Riffkin
Production Assistant: Molly Punshon

Assistant Producer: Katie Sayer
Producer and Director: Jon Holmes

Executive Producer: Phil Abrams.

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002myrf)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002myrj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002mn14)
Daisy Cooper MP, Julia Lopez MP, Patrick Maguire, Lucy Rigby MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from St Mary's Church in Walthamstow, East London, with the Liberal Democrat deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP; shadow science, innovation and technology secretary, Julia Lopez MP; The Times chief political commentator Patrick Maguire; and the economic secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby MP.

Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant producer: Lowri Morgan
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcast engineer: Rob Dyball
Editor: Glyn Tansley


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002myrm)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002mn10)
THE ARCHERS WEEK 47

Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Kim Greengrass
Editor: Jeremy Howe

23rd - 28th Nov

Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Tony Archer.... David Troughton
Leonard Berry.... Paul Copley
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Justin Elliott.... Simon Williams
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin.... Susie Riddell
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Kirsty Miller.... Annabelle Dowler


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002myrp)
The New Real

David Edgar’s political drama finds two American political consultants, formerly colleagues, advising opposing presidential candidates in an emerging democratic Eastern European country. It is not long before darker influences make their presence felt.

David Edgar’s original stage play, The New Real, is an origin story for the populist politics that have spread across Europe and America, the play speaks powerfully to our times. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place in Stratford in October 2024, directed by Holly Race Roughan. It was his tenth premiere with the company. David has been writing for theatre, television and radio since 1971. His plays have been performed across the world - in the UK, Ireland, throughout Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan. In 2023 the BBC published an audio collection of 17 productions of his work.

Rachel Moss ..... Fenella Woolgar
Larry Yeates ..... Jonathan Slinger
Liudmilla Bezborodko ..... Dolya Gavanski
Caro Wheeler ..... Cara Theobold
Petr Lutsevic ..... Roderick Hill
Zhudov ..... Sandy Grierson
Natalia Bezborodko ..... Ava Benkova
Oleg ..... Daniel Krmpotic
Ken Helms ..... Clifford Samuel

Production Co-ordinator, Jenny Mendez
Translations, Mirela Ivanova
Sound designer, Peter Ringrose
Executive Producer, Ed Crozier
Director, Toby Swift
Producer, Nicholas Newton

A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002myrr)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Kids social media ban in Australia, Cassa Pancho, Rage rooms, Camille O’Sullivan

Australia’s under-16 social media ban comes into force soon. From 10th December, platforms must take 'reasonable steps' to stop under-16s from opening accounts and remove accounts that already belong to them. Companies who fail to comply could face fines of up to £25m. BBC Sydney correspondent Katy Watson has been talking to teenagers in the state of Victoria. She explains how we got here and updates us on a new legal action being brought to challenge the ban.

Cassa Pancho founded Ballet Black in 2001, aged 21, in response to there being no black or Asian women performing in any of the UK’s ballet companies. This week Ballet Black conclude their UK tour of SHADOWS at London's Sadler's Wells and features as part of its double bill Cassa's adaptation of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s international bestselling novel, My Sister, The Serial Killer.

Have you heard of rage rooms? Or even visited one? Turns out demand for them is surging, and 90% of the UK customers are women. Believed to have started in Japan in the early 2000s, rage rooms are places where people can smash up items such as electronics, white goods and crockery. Nuala McGovern is joined by Jennifer Cox, psychotherapist and author of Women are Angry: Why Your Rage is Hiding and How To Let It Out, and culture journalist Isobel Lewis who has visited a rage retreat.

Camille O’Sullivan has toured with the Pogues and was chosen by Yoko Ono to perform at Meltdown festival in the Royal Festival Hall – now the Irish-French singer is bringing her hit show to the Soho Theatre in London. LoveLetter is a personal response to the loss of the artists who inspired her - particularly her late friends Shane McGowan and Sinéad O’Connor.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells


SAT 17:00 PM (m002myrt)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002myrw)
Kemi Badenoch: Shooting from the hip

Why did the leader of the opposition call the chancellor 'spineless' and 'shameless'?

Kemi Badenoch joins Nick in the Political Thinking studio to reflect on what lay behind the personal and political debates around Budget Day.

How can she emulate Margaret Thatcher's regeneration of the Conservative Party?

How did anger help drive her into politics?

And why do her kids wish she still worked at McDonald's?

Producer: Daniel Kraemer
Research: Chloe Desave
Editor: Jonathan Brunert
Sound: Ged Sudlow and Andrew Mills


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002myry)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002mys0)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002mys2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002mys4)
Stuart Maconie, Angie Le Mar, Phil Ellis, Nabil Elouahabi, Seb Lowe, Goodnight Louisa

Stuart Maconie welcomes Angie Le Mar to talk about appearing in her son Travis Jay's Radio 4 comedy Rum Punch. The actor Nabil Elouahabi talks about his role as the veteran explosives officer in the TV drama Trigger Point and comedian Phil Ellis is about to tour the country with his new show Bath Mat. He joins us to tell us why he's about to wipe the floor with his new show.

And we've music from Seb Lowe and Glasgow's Goodnight Louisa, who perform their new single 'Drew Barrymore'.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Elizabeth Foster


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002mys6)
An insight into the character of an influential person making the news headlines


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m002kjvd)
Series 34

What’s the deal with eels? – Lucy Porter, David Righton and Caroline Durif

Fishing rods at the ready, Brian Cox and Robin Ince attempt to reel in a creature that has baffled scientists since Aristotle: the eel. Wriggling in to help them uncover the mysteries of one of nature’s slimiest subjects are marine scientists David Righton and Caroline Durif, and comedian Lucy Porter.

How do eels navigate such vast distances so deep under water? Why has no one ever seen them reproduce? And WHY would anyone eat them jellied with pie and mash?! The panel discovers that Spanish eels are always late and that eels from all different countries are thought to meet up somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean for a huge annual orgy.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002mys8)
A Journey Behind Bars

Pioneering documentary-maker Rex Bloomstein reflects on more than 50 years of television and radio programmes he’s made about the British penal system, offering a unique insight into the events and issues which has led to the current crisis in our prisons.

Rex’s ground breaking television series about life In Strangeways prison in Manchester - as well as hugely revealing documentaries about prisoners serving life-sentences, the parole system and the work of the Prison Inspectorate - reveals a prison service under huge pressure.

His programmes observe prisoners sharing single cells, suffering the indignity of slopping out and being treated with contempt by prisoner officers. He’s been witness to neglect of prisoners’ mental illness and summary justice dispensed to those who break the rules. While he has seen reform and improvements over the years, many of the intrinsic shortcomings persist.

Former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, argues that prison simply does not work. Sir Marin Narey, former Director General of the prison service reveals how his decision to join the prison service, and his commitment to a policy of introducing decency to prison life, was inspired by watching Rex’s 1979 documentary cataloguing the demeaning conditions in Strangeways. And Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, talks about the insidious discrimination which exists in prisons to this day.

Producer: Brian King
Additional Research: Naomi Bloomstein
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m002mmy5)
Politics: Whose Morality Is It Anyway?

The Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, whose BBC Reith Lectures start this week, is calling for a moral revolution to change our societies for the better, charting how small groups of committed people – abolitionists, suffragettes, and temperance activists – have brought about positive social change.

Politics, Bregman argues, is in trouble in an age of apathy and backsliding democracy: “The moral rot runs deep across elite institutions of every stripe”, he says, “if the right is defined by its shameless corruption, then liberals answer with a paralyzing cowardice”.

So where might our moral salvation come? What are the deep values that underpin our contrasting political worldviews – left and right – and which should we look to prioritise now? Does any part of the political spectrum have the greatest claim to morality?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Matthew Taylor, James Orr, Mona Siddiqui and Tim Stanley.
Witnesses: Tim Montgomerie, Eleanor Penny, Joanna Williams, Paul Mason
Producer: Dan Tierney.


SAT 22:00 News (m002mysb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002mn01)
The Great Tartan Tea Swindle

When Tam o’ Braan began marketing Scottish Tea from his Wee Tea Plantation, the response was astonishing. Upmarket retailers such as Fortnum and Mason and hotels from the Dorchester in London to the Balmoral in Edinburgh paid top prices for the supplies of this rare treat. Scottish farmers caught the bug and bought tea bushes from Tam's plantation that he promised were bred especially for harsh Scottish conditions. Magazines, national newspapers and even the BBC profiled the entrepreneur behind the innovations that were putting Scotland on the tea map of the world.

The only problem was that Tam’s business was based on lies. His name wasn’t Tam o’ Braan, he wasn’t an award-winning tea grower and his tea certainly wasn’t Scottish. Jaega Wise follows the story of Tam and his tea from the hills of Perthshire through the tea salons of London to Falkirk's Sheriff Court.

Producer: Nina Pullman


SAT 23:00 Time Of The Week (m0020yq8)
Series 1

2. Deepfakes, Vaping, Richard III

It’s Listeners’ Week! Host Chloe Slack (Sian Clifford) is listening to the listeners who have suggested things to listen to, including vaping, the maths of parenting and murder.

Sian Clifford stars as self-important journalist Chloe Slack in this comedy series parodying women’s current affairs and talk shows, surrounded by an ensemble cast of character comedians.

Chloe Slack - Sian Clifford

Ensemble cast:
Ada Player
Alice Cockayne
Aruhan Galieva
Em Prendergast
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Mofé Akàndé
Sara Segovia

Additional voice: Etta Treen

Created by Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield

Writing team:
Alice Cockayne
Catherine Brinkworth
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Priya Hall
Will Hughes

Script Editor - Catherine Brinkworth
Photographer - Will Hearle
Production Coordinator - Katie Sayer
Producer - Ben Walker

A DLT Entertainment Production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023zj7)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity

5 - From Elton John to the Air Fryer

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are on a mission to get from Elton John to the air fryer in the most entertaining way possible, in a warm and witty podcast that celebrates new and half-remembered trivia as they try to find unlikely 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 Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
Recorded at Maple St Creative
Mixed by Jonathan Last

A Listen Production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002mysd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002mmdc)
Karl Ove Knausgaard

Karl Ove Knausgaard speaks to Take Four Books about his new novel The School Of Night and together with presenter James Crawford they explore its connections to three other texts. The School of Night follows the character of Kristian Hadeland, a young photography student who's seething with ambition and contempt. Newly arrived in London, Kristian feels that his own family back in Norway don't understand him, and his fellow students bore him, but he knows he's destined for greater things.

Karl Ove's three choices were: Dr Faustus by Thomas Mann published in 1947; a non-fiction book examining the murder of the playwright Christopher Marlowe in 1593 called The Reckoning by Charles Nicholl published in l992; and a book of memoir entitled 'Bunnyman' by the Echo & the Bunnymen guitarist, Will Sergeant.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002mysg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002mysj)
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 (m002mysl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002mysn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002mysq)
All Saints in Basingstoke.

Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints in Basingstoke. The bells are highly unusual in that the nine bells installed in 1916 were tuned such that a peal of eight bells could be rung either in the Dorian mode during Lent, or in the Major mode at other times. Though not the original intention, by 1946 the somewhat unique practice of ringing all nine together was frequently taking place. The tenor weighs eleven hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F. In 2016 a new Treble bell was added to create a more traditional ring of ten. We hear them ringing Grandsire Caters on the original nine bells.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002mmsy)
Parents and the Blatchington Court Trust

What is it like to bring up a child who is blind or visually impaired in 2025? As a parent, how easy is it to find the right support and information and indeed, the correct level of understanding about your child's needs. Fern Lulham meets parents who attended a recent Parents and Professionals Conference hosted by Blatchington Court Trust, a visually impaired children and young person's charity based in Sussex, to discuss those very questions.

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


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002mz01)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Heart and Soul (w3ct6vp7)
Gaudí: God’s architect

In one of his final official acts before he died, Pope Francis put Antoni Gaudí, Spain’s most famous architect, onto the path to sainthood.

Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is a towering basilica, strangely designed and bursting with colour. It stands in the heart of Barcelona and its walls recount the entire story of the Catholic religion. After 140 years, having survived wars, arson attacks and dictatorship, it is still under construction. As Gaudí worked on it throughout his life, he became obsessive and it intensified his devotion. By the end of his life he was living like a monk.

Today, millions come every year to see his work. Some have been so affected by his art and approach they have converted to Catholicism. The process to confirm Gaudí as a saint is secretive and potentially long. But for the creator of the world’s longest ongoing construction, there’s no rush.

The BBC's Max Horberry has been to Barcelona to see Gaudí's work and speak to the people who have been working to finish the Sagrada Familia and campaigning for Gaudí's sainthood. We will find out more about the path to sainthood and how architecture, nature and religion intertwine in Gaudí’s life.

[Credit: Fundació Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família]

Producer/Presenter: Max Horberry
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002mz03)
Reservoir Farm

Hannah Thorogood has spent 15 years building up an organic farm business from scratch. She runs it with her twin daughters and sells produce from her cattle, sheep and hens in a farm shop. Once a month she opens up her fields to visitors and gives farm tours to explain her farming methods . Now the future of Inkpot Farm in Scredington hangs in the balance. The farm and thousands of acres of Lincolnshire countryside around it, are in the middle of a proposed site for a giant reservoir.

Produced and presented by Rebecca Rooney.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002mz05)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002mz07)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002mz09)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002mz0c)
Trees for Cities

Actor and comedian Michael Palin makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Trees for Cities.

The Radio 4 Appeal features a new charity every week.
Each appeal then runs on Radio 4 from Sunday 0755 for 7 days.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Trees for Cities’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Trees for Cities’.
- 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: 1032154. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.treesforcities.org/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Anna Bailey


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002mz0f)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002mz0h)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002mz0k)
Advent Authors: Edwin Muir

Live from St Salvator’s Chapel in the University of St Andrews.
Throughout Advent, Sunday Worship explores the works of literary greats from around the United Kingdom and reflects on what they can tell us about this season of preparation.
On this St Andrew’s Day, Rev Dr Donald MacEwan, University Chaplain, and Rev Prof Alison Jack of New College, Edinburgh, explore the work and spirituality of the great Scottish writer Edwin Muir, tracing his developing faith and its influence on his writings.
With the Chapel Choir directed by Claire Innes-Hopkins.
Organ: Daniel Toombs and Calum Landon
Readings: Matthew 4:12-17, 4: 18-20
Hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Tune: Veni Emmanuel)
A Tender Shoot (Kerensa Briggs)
Hymn: Before The World Began (Tune: Incarnation) (John L Bell)
Psalm 150, O Praise God In His Holiness (Stanford)
Canticle of Zachariah (James MacMillan)
Hymn: Now the heavens start to whisper (Tune: Abbot's Leigh)


SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74ms)
The Czech Freedom Train

On 11 September 1951, the 9.55am train from Prague to Aš, in Communist Czechoslovakia was hijacked and driven to freedom in West Germany.

One hundred and eleven people were on board and 34 of them never returned, starting new lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

The remaining 77 returned to Czechoslovakia to face state security, the Státní bezpečnost, and many were jailed.

Rachel Naylor uses an archive interview with Karel Ruml, one of the hijackers, who went on to move to the United States.

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: A steam train in Czechoslovakia in 1960. Credit: Alamy)


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002mz0m)
Frances Tophill on the Turnstone

Turnstones are so named because of their habit of turning over stones to look for food. These common winter visitors to the UK are mainly found on wetlands, along estuaries and the coastline, where they can be seen creeping and fluttering over rocks. They have mottled brown or chestnut plumage, with white underparts and bright orange legs.

For gardener and TV presenter Frances Tophill, the turnstone is a bird she heavily associates with the British coastline. She often encounters them as she swims or walks along the Devon coast and has childhood memories of seeing turnstones on the beaches in Kent, where she grew up. She enjoys the companionship of their presence and the sound of their chattering calls to one another.

Presented by Frances Tophill and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002mz0p)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002mz0r)
Gordon Buchanan, cameraman and presenter

Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family & Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic wolves, elephants and reindeer among other species.

Gordon was brought up in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull where he spent his days exploring the island and developed his lifelong love of the outdoors. In 1988, when he was 17, he met the charismatic wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon who invited him to become his assistant for a project to film primates on the island of Tiwai in Sierra Leone.

Gordon spent 18 months in Sierra Leone working with Nick and after that the two of them worked in West Africa and South America. At 22 Gordon set up on his own – his first job was a year-long assignment to make three half-hour programmes for a 14-part wildlife series called Wild Islands.

In 2001 he made his debut as a presenter on the BBC’s Natural World strand. He was appointed an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking in 2020.

Gordon lives in Glasgow with his wife Wendy. They have two children.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many wildlife experts and broadcasters away including Dr George McGavin, Professor Carl Jones, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002mz0t)
THE ARCHERS WEEK 47

Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Kim Greengrass
Editor: Jeremy Howe

23rd - 28th Nov

Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Tony Archer.... David Troughton
Leonard Berry.... Paul Copley
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Justin Elliott.... Simon Williams
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin.... Susie Riddell
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Kirsty Miller.... Annabelle Dowler


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002mys6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m002mmmj)
Series 84

Seafood Film Club

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Hull New Theatre. On the panel are Rory Bremner, Tony Hawks, Lucy Porter and Henning Wehn, with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair.

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

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002mz0w)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002mz0y)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002mz10)
Playing Spies

The words "spy ring" conjure up images straight from the enigmatic literary worlds of John le Carre and Graham Greene.
But the recent prosecutions of a group of Bulgarians and the arsonists who set fire to a warehouse containing communications equipment for Ukraine, suggest a new, less glamorous front in the hidden world of espionage.
Necessity is the mother of invention and the expulsion of Russian spies combined with sanctions on the technology of modern warfare have seen a move away from traditional "foreign agents".
Communication platforms like Telegram are enabling the remote commissioning of low-level criminality - acts of sabotage and information gathering. Often, these outsourced agents are not even aware of who they're working for.
They are, as the Director General of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum would have it "Playing Spies" and they are entirely disposable.
Author and journalist Gordon Corera considers this new ecosystem of state interference and the dangerous players who are more Slow Horses than shaken not stirred.
He hears from investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Dominic Murphy, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute Matthew Redhead and Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer in Intelligence at the Department of War Studies at King's College London.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk Tim Passmore gives us his take on fears that Russia's drone war is having a direct impact on farmers in the UK.

Presented by Gordon Corera
Produced by Kev Core


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002mn0m)
Henley-on-Thames

What’s the strangest thing wildlife has whisked away from your garden? How can I prevent codling moth from spoiling apples? And how do I make reliably nutritious compost using horse manure?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of green-fingered experts return to Henley-on-Thames, where a lively audience of passionate gardeners awaits answers to their most pressing horticultural dilemmas.

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

Later in the programme, Bunny Guinness offers her expert advice on creating your very own dead hedge.

Senior Producer: Dan Cocker
Junior producer: Rahnee Prescod
Assistant Producer: Suki Glocking
Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002mz12)
The Princess Bride

According to its introduction, The Princess Bride is a long, sprawling book by the great Florinese writer S. Morgenstern that renowned screenwriter and novelist William Goldman has been obliged to abridge so that his son doesn’t have to struggle through all the boring bits.

But as John Yorke reveals, all is not as it seems in this metafictional novel from 1973 that Goldman himself went on to adapt into a screenplay for a much-loved film. The Princess Bride may ostensibly be a fairy story, but there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface.

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.

Natalie Haynes is a classicist, broadcaster and author of books including A Thousand Ships and Stone Blind.
Stephen Keyworth is a writer and director who has adapted two of William Goldman’s novels – The Princess Bride and Marathon Man – for Radio 4.
Interview with William Goldman, BBC Radio 3 Third Ear, March 1988

Reader: Riley Neldam
Music: Torquil MacLeod
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 The Princess Bride (m0012rv9)
The Dramatisation: Part 1

“This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it”. When William Goldman discovers The Princess Bride by S Morgenstern is not the swashbuckling fantasy his father read him as a child, but is in fact a patchy and extensive historical satire, he sets out to create the “Good Parts” version…

A tale of true love and high adventure featuring a fighting giant that loves to rhyme, a swordsman on the ultimate quest for revenge, a pirate in love with a princess, a princess in love with a farm boy and a prince in love with war.

First a novel, then a film, now an audio experience:

The Best Bits of the Good Parts Version by Stephen Keyworth.

A two-part dramatisation of swashbuckling adventure plus five bitesize backstories which can be enjoyed as stand-alone stories or to enhance your experience of the drama.

The Dramatisation: Part 1

Buttercup is the most beautiful woman in the world and she’s in love with a farm boy who is about to become the most notorious man in the world…

Cast:
Buttercup … Ruby Barker
Fezzik … Tyler Collins
Inigo… Emun Elliott
Vizzini… Maryam Hamidi
Count Rugen … Robin Laing
Goldman Snr / Father / Roberts … Crawford Logan
Westley … Lorn Macdonald
Prince Humperdinck / William Goldman … Grant O’Rourke
Countess … Rosalind Sydney

Sound recording: Joanne Willott
Sound design: Fraser Jackson

Directed by Kirsty Williams


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002mz14)
Alexander McCall Smith

International bestseller Sir Alexander McCall Smith joines James Crawford to discuss The Private Side of Friendship, and shares the literary works that influenced it.

After the acclaim of his his The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Sandy has written over a hundred books, selling tens of millions of copies in English alone – not to mention the 46 other languages in which his work has appeared. In his latest novel, he is taking readers to a city he knows very well, as six young Edinburgh students embark on a flatshare, and navigate new friendships, against the backdrop of the social unrest of the 1980s miners’ strikes.

For his three influences Sandy chose: The More Loving One by W.H. Auden (1957), Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar (2021), and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011).

Including an extract from the audiobook of Friends by Robin Dunbar, published by Hachette.

Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023zj9)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity

6 – From Hot Air Balloons to The Shipping Forecast

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are on a mission to get from hot air balloons to the Shipping Forecast in the most entertaining way possible, in a warm and witty podcast that celebrates new and half-remembered trivia as they try to find unlikely links between random places, people and things.

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 Angela Barnes
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 (w3ct74qx)
The Howard Hughes literary hoax

In 1971, the publishing world was rocked by one of the biggest hoaxes in literary history – a fake autobiography of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Hughes was an aerospace engineer, film producer, record-breaking aviator and business tycoon, who’d built a $2 billion fortune to become one of the richest people in the world.

But for years he’d been living as a recluse, reportedly so terrified of catching a disease that he had almost no contact with the outside world.

That's why the publishers, McGraw Hill, were delighted when Clifford Irving, an American author, persuaded the billionaire to talk. They paid him a $750,000 advance.

But Irving had faked the entire manuscript, and after his scam was discovered, he was sentenced to jail. Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out how it happened.

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: Howard Hughes, 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 Three Ages of Child (m002kfpq)
Episode 2: The Middle Years

Dr Guddi Singh is a paediatrician looking for answers. She’s worried about the patients whose problems can’t be fixed with a prescription – babies who are not thriving because their parents can’t afford to heat their home or children who are obese because they don’t have access to outdoor space. Children in the UK face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Dr Singh wants to find solutions.

In a three-part series, she travels across England through the three ages of childhood: the early years, the primary school years and adolescence. She meets people in the community, from health workers to teachers, on a quest to discover what’s going wrong and what it will take to turn things around.

In the second episode, she’s in London, travelling from east to west across the capital to find out what’s making the difference for children in their school years. She goes to an adventure playground in Tower Hamlets, meets community health workers in Westminster and visits a school in Feltham that puts wellbeing at the heart of education.

Presenter: Guddi Singh
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
Production Executive: Lisa Lipman
Sound Engineers: Dan King and Jon Calver
Photography of Guddi Singh courtesy of Anad Singh
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002mz17)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002mz19)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002mz1c)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002mz1f)
Chris Power

This week, we're finding ourselves in flux via audio, between broken stones and baffling markets, crisps on the radio to the crinkle of crisp packets bringing joy to Paul Farley and his newly fitted hearing aids. Plus, we hear about the prison farm helping inmates come closer to freedom, as well as the power of the sitar being unleashed on pop music with George Harrison, and a little help from a friend.

Presenter: Chris Power
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinators: Caoilfhinn McFadden and Caroline Peddle

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002mz1h)
Chris makes his feelings clear, and Eddie has a brainwave.


SUN 19:15 Currently (m002mz1k)
Four Months in Gaza

A raw and intimate perspective on the terror, anger, and hope of living through war.

As bombs hit ever closer to her home in central Gaza, Hanya Aljamal spots her elderly neighbour tending to his garden. “He's been raking the earth,” she says, “prepping the soil for new seeds. Given everything that's already happening, it's quite interesting seeing him do that right now. I mean, if grandpa thinks it's a good time to put seeds in, then I don't know, maybe there's hope.”

In audio diaries sent from her balcony over four months, Hanya sees impromptu volleyball matches, flying shrapnel, and a hastily constructed tent village as Israel expands its military action. But after she questions whether she will live to see the end of the conflict, a fragile peace is finally agreed and Hanya’s personal situation changes dramatically.

Producer/presenter: Simon Maybin
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m00101jt)
Play Video Games

Do you struggle with multi-tasking, filtering out distractions, and prioritising your to-do list? Believe it or not, video gaming might help. In this episode, Michael Mosley enters the world of gaming to find out how it can benefit our brains! He enlists the help of cognitive neuroscientist Professor Daphné Bavelier to find out how, to Michael’s surprise, video games could actually help improve our vision and what types of features we should look out for when we play...


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002mpb0)
Mark Steel's in Town. Materials of State. Test Match Special Podcast - Interview of the Year nomination.

Mark Steel's In Town has just completed it's 14th series, and listeners from Shetland to Rutland and beyond have been tuning in. But what do they make of it? And what goes into putting each episode together? Mark joins presenter Andrea Catherwood on Feedback to answer your questions and unravel how the programme works.

Some listeners also had questions about Radio 4's Materials of State, which is being broadcast this week. The first programme in the series covered the story of the UK's national flag - listeners claimed calling it the Union Jack was wrong. Malcolm Farrow, President of The Flag Institute, weighs in to clear up any confusion.

And there's one final nomination for Feedback's Interview of the Year before nominations close. It comes from a listener who tuned in to Test Match Special Podcast to hear the BBC's Chief Cricket Reporter Stephan Shemilt interviewing veteran cricketer David Larter.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002mn0r)
Jimmy Cliff, Charlotte Bingham, Skye Gyngell, David Bellos

Kirsty Lang on:

Jimmy Cliff, who took reggae music onto the global stage. His former record producer and founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell pays tribute.

Charlotte Bingham, the writer who mined the experience of her upbringing and relationships to pen dozens of novels and screenplays.

Skye Gyngell, the Australian born chef whose devotion to fresh seasonal produce made a lasting impact on modern British cooking.

David Bellos, the award-winning literary translator who revelled in linguistic challenges.

Interviewee: Chris Blackwell
Interviewee: Lloyd Bradley
Interviewee: Candida Brady
Interviewee: Thomasina Miers
Interviewee: Rory O'Connell
Interviewee: Alex Bellos

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley

Archive used:
Jimmy Cliff interview, The First Time, BBC Radio 6, 26/08/2012; The Harder They Come, Official Film Promo 1972, Director: Perry Henzell, International Films Inc; Charlotte Bingham, If I had A Million, BBC Television, 23/11/1968; Skye Gyngell interview, The Food Programme, BBC Radio 4, 09/09/2007; Skye Gyngell interview, The Conversation, Star Chef, BBC World Service, 23/07/2018; David Bellos, The Verb, BBC Radio 3, 16/09/2011


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002myrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002mz0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002myr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002mz1m)
Ben Wright breaks down the Budget

Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (b07cyfkg)
Margery Kempe and English Mysticism

To celebrate Melvyn Bragg’s 27 years presenting In Our Time, five well-known fans of the programme have chosen their favourite episodes. Author and columnist Caitlin Moran has picked the episode on the English medieval mystic Margery Kempe and recorded an introduction to it. Margery Kempe (1373-1438) produced an account of her extraordinary life in a book she dictated, "The Book of Margery Kempe." She went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to Rome and Santiago de Compostela, purchasing indulgences on her way, met with the anchoress Julian of Norwich and is honoured by the Church of England each 9th November. She sometimes doubted the authenticity of her mystical conversations with God, as did the authorities who saw her devotional sobbing, wailing and convulsions as a sign of insanity and dissoluteness. Her Book was lost for centuries, before emerging in a private library in 1934.

This In Our Time episode was first broadcast in June 2016. The image (above), of an unknown woman, comes from a pew at Margery Kempe's parish church, St Margaret’s, Kings Lynn and dates from c1375.

With

Miri Rubin
Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London

Katherine Lewis
Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Huddersfield

And

Anthony Bale
Professor of Medieval Studies at Birkbeck University of London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

John H. Arnold and Katherine J. Lewis (eds.), A Companion to the Book of Margery Kempe, (D. S. Brewer, 2010)

Anthony Bale (trans.), The Book of Margery Kempe (Oxford University Press, 2015)

Santha Bhattacharji, God is an Earthquake: The Spirituality of Margery Kempe (Darton, Longman and Todd, 1997)

Anthony Goodman, Margery Kempe and her World (Longman, 2002)

Karma Lochrie, Margery Kempe and the Translations of the Flesh (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991)

Gail McMurray Gibson, The Theater of Devotion: East Anglian Drama and Society in the Late Middle Ages (University of Chicago Press, 1989)

Lynn Staley, Margery Kempe’s Dissenting Fictions (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994)

Jonathan Sumption, Pilgrimage: An Image of Mediaeval Religion (Faber & Faber, 2002)

Brett Whalen, Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages: A Reader (University of Toronto Press, 2011)

Barry Windeatt (ed.), The Book of Margery Kempe: Annotated Edition (D. S. Brewer, 2006)

Barry Windeatt (ed.), The Book of Margery Kempe (Penguin Classics, 2000)

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 people, ideas, events and discoveries that have shaped our world

In Our Time is a BBC Studios production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002mn0p)
small letters by Louise Kennedy

Dervla Kirwan reads an original story for Radio 4 by the award-winning author of Trespasses, set in the West of Ireland.

A divorced couple do their best to remain civil for the sake of their daughter on a school visit – until a small volume of poetry unleashes powerful memories from their past…

Dervla Kirwan is an award-winning stage and screen actor, best known for her roles in Ballykissangel, and most recently The House of Guinness.
Author: Louise Kennedy is best known for her acclaimed debut novel, Trespasses, a searing story of forbidden love in 1970s Belfast set against the backdrop of the Troubles. It went on to win Eason's Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, Book of the Year: Debut Fiction at the British Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and Barnes and Noble Discover Prize. It has recently been made into a Channel 4 drama. Her short story collection, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac won the John McGahern Prize. Before she started writing, she spent nearly thirty years working as a chef.
Produced by Justine Willett

MONDAY 01 DECEMBER 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002mz1p)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Wokewash (m001w12p)
Race

Satirist Heydon Prowse offers a tongue-in-cheek investigation into how companies embraced race as the next social justice bandwagon to flaunt their woke credentials.

After the murder of George Floyd organisations suddenly tweeted and posted support for a movement they had never seemed to care about, rushing to be the first to be seen to make donations. CEOs took the knee in the office, a toy company paused its marketing of its police themed range.

Heydon himself was in a panic – should he post a black square with the hashtag #blackouttuesday in support of Black Lives Matter? If he did, he feared the profoundly performative act of solidarity that required zero effort was wokewashing, if he didn’t wouldn’t he look like a full blown racist.

To discover who did it right and who did a facepalm, Heydon meets:
Enes Freedom, former NBA star whose career came to a sudden halt when he chose to protest an issue beyond BLM
Podcaster Zubi, who wonders if wokewashing is a brilliant con to subdue the left
Marketing guru Katie Martell, who hails the advert that got people setting fire to their trainers
Comedian Kae Kurd, who ponders if Pepsi or Dr Pepper is the best drink for a protest
Judd Legum who unearthed financial hypocrisy, and academics Lily Kunda and Francesca Sobande who discuss what, if anything, has changed as a result – and a favourite ice cream.

Producer: Sarah Bowen
Assistant Producer: Oliva Sopel


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002mysq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002mz1r)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002mz1t)
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 (m002mz1w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002mz1y)
Susan Hulme asks whether we need a Budget Speech and looks back to a time when the only way women could watch Parliament was through a ventilation shaft.


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002mz20)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002mz22)
Impatient for the New Year?

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002mz24)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002mz26)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002n05x)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002n05z)
Space, Quantum Frontiers and Cosmic Clues

What can the cosmos tell us about our past and future? Tom Sutcliffe and guests look skyward and deep into the quantum world to ask how much we can really know about the universe - and about ourselves.

Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock, presenter of this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, shares her passion for inspiring the next generation to think big, as she explores the wonders of our solar system and the questions that still puzzle astronomers.

Physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies introduces his new book Quantum 2.0, charting the strange and revolutionary principles of quantum mechanics and how they are reshaping technology, science, and our understanding of reality itself.

From the Natural History Museum, Caroline Smith brings insights from meteorites — fragments of ancient worlds — and explains how these cosmic messengers help scientists search for life beyond Earth and piece together the story of our solar system’s origins.

Together, in Radio 4's weekly ideas discussion programme Start the Week, they consider the limits of knowledge: whether in decoding quantum mysteries, interpreting rocks from space, or imagining the motivations of those who first looked to the stars.

Producer: Ruth Watts
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez


MON 09:45 Wild Bond (m001d51t)
The Spy

The name's Bond. James Bond. Everyone's favourite spy has been serving up the guns, the glamour, the girls and the gadgets on the silver screen for 60 years, and we're celebrating... In a slightly unusual way. Emily Knight is taking the iconic characters from the Bond world and re-casting them, from the animal kingdom. Which of our animal cousins would make the best 007? Who do we cast as the Bond Girl? In nature, who comes equipped with the best gadgets? Who are villains, bent on world domination, and who are the henchmen, just following orders?

In this first episode, we're starting in the obvious place: James himself. His Majesty's lapdog. The fighter. The lover. The spy.

Animal espionage is all around us in nature: from experts in disguise, camouflaging themselves to avoid detection, to masters of mimicry, pretending to be something they're not. But true, deliberate deception - what biologists call 'tactical deception' - is surprisingly rare in the animal world. It requires high intelligence, social graces, and 'theory of mind' - an ability to conceive of yourself through the eyes of another. Emily learns about some sneaky birds, and some crafty capuchins, who might just have mastered it.

With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and Evolutionary Anthropologist Brandon Wheeler from the University of Kent.

Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002n061)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m001b43m)
'Ian'

Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons.

Their role is to help people who have committed crimes to look at the harm they’ve caused to other people, understand why, and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.

In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand someone whose crimes have led to harm and in some cases, imprisonment.

In this final episode they talk to Ian*, who pleaded guilty to the offence of indecent exposure. Ian received a non-custodial sentence, was placed on the register of sex offenders and was ordered to attend a sex offender treatment programme.

Ian’s story is one of a compulsion that started early in childhood and continued into his adult years. By talking through the key moments in Ian’s life and upbringing, we can start to understand how he, and others, reach the point where they cause harm through shameful acts that cause disgust to society.

Ian's conviction led to him seeking further help to curb his compulsions, and he has successfully learned how to live safely. His behaviour has been under control for over ten years, and his successful treatment may have prevented further, far more serious harm happening in the future.

Ian engaged with a specialist charity called StopSO, which offers treatment to perpetrators and offers support for survivors of sexual offending. www.stopso.org.uk

*Ian’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

A warning that some people may find this programme distressing.

For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline

Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.


MON 11:45 Piccadilly (m000wccn)
London

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

In the first episode we hear about their arrival in London. Krupa's dad Chandu arrived dressed in a suit on a cold winters day with very little except his accountancy bible. He described himself as so 'green' having grown up in Dar es Salaam where life was so simple and relaxed.

Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell

With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002n063)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002n065)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002n067)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002n069)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 The History Podcast (m002n06c)
The Arrest

1. The Lawyer

As Augusto Pinochet recovers from minor surgery in London in October 1998, a lawyer for his victims races to seize an unlikely opportunity to bring the Chilean dictator to justice.

The general, who seized power in a military coup in 1973, is thought to be responsible for orchestrating the execution of more than 3,000 political opponents, and the torture, kidnapping and disappearance of 40,000 more. Until this point he has been untouchable - safe from prosecution in Chile, and protected by diplomatic immunity abroad.

Two Spanish lawyers have spent the last few years building a case against him, and the authorities in London might now be able to help, but to succeed they’ll need to act fast, pull in some favours, and cut a few corners.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002mz1h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (m002n06f)
Series 3

Episode 2 – A Bridgerton Too Far

Once more, to her sister’s fury, success clings to Selina as she’s invited to join the cast of Regency blockbuster Bridgerton, with hot rumpo consequences.

Meanwhile Florence enters the arena of crowdfunding with her much-unawaited stab at crime writing, Lucy has more revelations concerning her pregnancy, and Mrs Ragnarrok continues her stanning of Adrian Chiles.

The first series of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane Austen? won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy and the second series won the British Comedy Guide Award for Best Radio Sitcom for the second year in a row.

“Thank you, Mr Quantick – this is nigh on perfect” Radio Times

Written by David Quantick

Florence - Dawn French
Selina - Jennifer Saunders
Mrs Ragnarrok – Rebecca Front
Lucy – Georgia Tennant
All the men - Alistair McGowan

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Faith, Hope and Glory (m000s1rp)
Series 1: Eps 1-8

1. Hope and Jim

The history of post-war Britain is told through the lives of Hope Kiffin, Eunice Lamming and Gloria de Soto, bound forever by one moment in 1946. Today, Hope and Jim face the dilemma of bringing up their beautiful baby girl in a hostile environment.

Cast
Jim ..... Martins Imhangbe
Hope ..... Danielle Vitalis

Writer, Roy Williams
Director, Mary Peate
Producer, Jessica Dromgoole

NOTES
Radio 4 has commissioned Faith Hope and Glory an ambitious new series telling brilliant intimate domestic stories that together illuminate the emergence of modern Britain. This first week of 15’ dramas lays out the origin story that in 1946, Hope and Jim’s baby, entrusted to Eunice to take home to Antigua, is lost at Tilbury Docks, and found by Gloria and Clement, a celibate couple, who decide to keep her and call her Joy. Joy’s life spans the entire series, up to the present day.

Roy Williams has written the series of five 15’ plays to kick off, which is shortly followed by three 45’ plays – Clement and Gloria by Rex Obano, Hope and Jim, by Roy, and Faith and Trevor by Winsome Pinnock.

The cast includes Shiloh Coke as Faith, Danielle Vitalis as Hope, and Pippa Bennett Warner as Gloria, together with Gary Beadle as Trevor, Martins Imhangbe as Jim and Stefan Adegbola as Clement.


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002n06h)
Michelle Ogundehin and Lisa St Aubin de Terán

Michelle Ogundehin is a broadcaster, magazine editor and author also known as a presenter on TV's Interior Design Masters. She and author Lisa St Aubin de Terán give their book recommendations. Michelle's is 4000 Weeks: Time Management For Mortals by Oliver Burkeman which she says has helped her simplify her life. Lisa chooses Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix the powerful retelling of the 2021 incident in which 27 people drowned in the English Channel attempting to make the crossing from France. It's a fictionalised account of a real event told from the perspective of the French Coastguard blamed for not taking adequate action.
Harriett's choice is The Party by Tessa Hadley set in post war Bristol.

Have your say on any of these books on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Producer: Maggie Ayre


MON 15:30 Curious Cases (m002myr1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002mz10)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002myr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002n06k)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002n06m)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m002n06p)
Series 84

Hospital Radio Songbook

The godfather of all panel shows returns to the Hull New Theatre. On the panel are Rory Bremner, Tony Hawks, Lucy Porter and Henning Wehn with Jack Dee in the umpire’s chair.

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

Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m002n06r)
Amber struggles with her emotions, and Joy has reservations.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002n06t)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002mpb2)
What's happening with the Ukraine peace plan?

President Trump wants an end to the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainians want peace too - but not at any cost. The past week saw the emergence of a leaked US 28 - point- plan which was wholly unacceptable to President Zelensky and European leaders. But how it originated and why it looked like a Russian wish list has led to intense debate. ( It included Ukraine giving up territory it still holds in the east, as well as the area already occupied by Russia, a cap on the Ukrainian army of 600 thousand, a permanent ban on NATO membership for Ukraine and an amnesty on all war crimes. ) Talks hastily took place in Europe and Abu Dhabi and there’s now a revised version still to be agreed with Russia. President Zelensky wants to meet President Trump to agree the most sensitive issues.. So why did this latest attempt at peace in Ukraine emerge through a leaked document which many assumed had come straight from Russia? How has Europe and Ukraine responded and could it really mean an end to nearly four years of war?

Guests:
Angela Stent, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia.
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London
Christopher Miller, Financial Times’ Chief Ukraine Correspondent
Sir Laurie Bristow, former UK Ambassador to Russia and President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Cordelia Hemming, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txm)
Why aren’t gene therapies more common?

This week, a world first gene therapy treats rare Hunter syndrome. Could these personalised medicines be used more widely? We speak to Claire Booth, professor in Gene Therapy at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

And high in the Chilean desert, the last bit of 13 billion year old light has hit the mirror of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope for the last time. Dr Jenifer Millard, a science communicator and host of the Awesome Astronomy podcast, tells us what it’s been up to for the past 20 years.

And Penny Sarchet, managing editor at New Scientist brings her pick of the latest new discoveries.

Think you know space? Head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science, and follow the links to the Open University to try The Open University Space Quiz.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producers: Alex Mansfield, Ella Hubber, Jonathan Blackwell, Tim Dodd and Clare Salisbury
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002n05z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Wild Bond (m001d51t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002n06w)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (m002n06y)
Episode 1

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix , translated by Helen Stevenson, is inspired by the actual events surrounding the deaths of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in the early hours of the 24th November 2021.  As the sea overwhelmed the dinghy they had set out in, the migrants’ telephone calls for help and the French call operator’s responses and frequently off the cuff, callous asides, were recorded, and later published by the French media. 

The author takes these events as the starting point for a work of fiction. The narrative is voiced in the words of the French naval coastguard - it was her job , she is at pains to tell the police investigator, to assess the calls for help and allocate the rescue centre’s limited resources according to the most urgent need. But as her increasingly defensive arguments begin to unravel, we witness a mind where intrusive images of drowning figures crowd in. Accused of being a monster for her lack of empathy, the accusation is thrown back at us – where is our humanity and what did we do to save the drowning souls ?

This is a story which puts all of us in the spotlight – complicit in looking the other way, implicated in readily blaming others, and guilty for not wanting to think too much about where responsibility lies for the deaths of those who felt their limbs grow cold and leaden as the black of night gave way to grey dawn.

In an interview with Dua Lipa for her global book club, Service95, Vincent Delecroix observed that "imagination is the first moral faculty". In this work of fiction, he asks us to deploy our own imaginations as fully as we can, before we venture to make any kind of moral judgement.

Producer Jill Waters says, "I have rarely if ever finished a recording session so fired up by the energy of a challenging text brought viscerally to life. Small Boat is a gripping portrait of a woman struggling to deflect guilt, deny responsibility and maintain that these deaths - this journey - was not her idea. But every so often her argument collapses in on itself and we glimpse an internal chasm of doubt and fear. Lydia Wilson gives a superb performance, moving between demotic bluster and brittle sarcasm with devastating moments of guileless indifference, whilst all the time shame gnaws at her soul.

Small Boat was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 . It was originally published in 2023 in French by Gallimard as "Naufrage".

Read by Lydia Wilson and Tommy Sim’aan (episodes 5 and 6)

Written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson

Abridged and directed by Jill Waters

The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m001sltj)
Spores: Series 1

3. Drift

A psychological horror story set in rural Wales amid the mysterious world of mycelium.

When social worker Cassie discovers mould in the flat of a vulnerable service user she puts it down to poor quality housing. But then she discovers it in her own house and begins to fear for the safety of her family.

For partner Morgan and young son Bryn, it’s not the mould that troubles them but Cassie’s mental health. As the fungus continues to grow and spread, Cassie resorts to more extreme measures to combat it. But why will no one listen to her when she warns of danger? Cassie finds an ally in the reclusive Hywel when the Polish girl makes contact again.

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was condemned to speak the truth yet never be believed. A story of trust and what happens when we lose it. And of a hidden threat attacking the very thing that makes us powerful.

Written and created by Marietta Kirkbride

Cassie …… Kate O’Flynn
Ola …… Aggy K. Adams
Hywel ….. Lloyd Meredith
Interviewer ….. Laurel Lefkow
Morgan…… Owain Gwynn

Other voices played by the cast

Production Manager: Anna de Wolff Evans
Production Assistant: Teresa Milewski
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

Title Music: Ioana Selaru & Melo-Zed
Sound Design: Jon Nicholls

Directed and Produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002n070)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 02 DECEMBER 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002n072)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Piccadilly (m000wccn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002n074)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002n076)
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 (m002n078)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002n07b)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002n07d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002n07g)
Just a scratch!

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002n07j)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002n0zw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Reith Lectures (m002n0jf)
Rutger Bregman - Moral Revolution

2. How to start a moral revolution

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman gives the second of his 2025 Reith Lectures, called "Moral Revolution."

History, he says can be "a reservoir of hope." He outlines how small groups of people have changed the course of history such as Elizabeth Fry, who brought compassion into the prison system; Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes who won the vote for women and Norman Borlaug, whose Green Revolution saved millions from famine. And he argues that this is as relevant now as it ever was: that small groups of committed citizens can still change the world.

The Reith Lectures are presented by Anita Anand and the programme was recorded in front of an audience in Liverpool, who asked questions afterwards.

The series is produced by Jim Frank. The Editor is Clare Fordham.
The programmes are mixed by Neil Churchill.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002n0zy)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m002mn12)
Claire Wickes and Vince Pope and plenty of strings

Flautist and composer Claire Wickes and composer Vince Pope join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks, taking us from some traditional Irish violins to San Francisco's Kronos Quartet, stopping along the way for some musical Greek mythology.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Runaway by The Corrs
La flûte de Pan by Claude Debussy
Cassandra by Florence and the Machine
Stay With Me by Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet
Ya Taali’een el-Jabal by Kronos Quartet ft Rim Banna

Other music in this episode

A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins
True Detective: Night Country - Caribou (ft. Tanya Tagaq) by Vince Pope
Posee un Corazón by Leonor Dely
Oyé Oyé (Lumbalú) by Leonor Dely & Millero Congo
Venus by Bananarama
Midas Touch by Midnight Star
Cassandra by ABBA
Cassandra by Taylor Swift
Cole's First Dream from the 12 Monkeys soundtrack by Paul Buckmaster
Theme from Minority Report by John Williams
Lux Aeterna from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack by Paul Buckmaster


TUE 11:45 Piccadilly (m000w9tx)
Homeland

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

In this episode we hear about the Gujarati communities in East Africa where Krupa's Dad, Chandu and his friends called home. Their memories of swimming in the ocean off Tanzania are still so vivid. With tensions between the Gujarati communities and the newly independent governments increasing they had two choices to go back to their homeland in India or use their British passport to try and make in the UK.

Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002n100)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002n102)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002n104)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002n106)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 The History Podcast (m002n108)
The Arrest

2. The Disappeared

When diplomat Carmelo Soria doesn't come home from work in July 1976 his wife, Laura, fears the worst. Augusto Pinochet has been in power in Chile for almost three years and the disappearances of his political opponents have become hard to ignore.

The Spaniard's body is found, floating in a Santiago canal, two days later. The police say he'd had a car accident, but his widow is convinced he'd been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.

When, 20 years later, she meets a Spanish lawyer building a complaint against Pinochet, the legal case against the former dictator finds a powerful weapon.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands.
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow.
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002n06r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002n10b)
Made in Taiwan

A bright but hopelessly out-of-his-depth Brit arrives in Beijing for a dream job and stumbles straight into a chaotic mix of surveillance, blackmail and very bad decisions. Packed off to Taiwan to keep him out of trouble, he must muddle through shady allies, confused loyalties and rising global tension, all while trying to pretend he knows what he is doing.

George Tucker ….. Sam Stafford

Gabby ….. Saffron Coomber

Lily Wu ….. Crystal Yu

Charles Tucker ….. Clive Hayward

Dan ….. Windson Liong

Bradley Wagner ….. Joseph Balderrama

An Qi ….. Amber Lin

Written by Jim Poyser
Jim has written extensively for Radio 4 including the comedy series Stockport So Good They Named it Once, The Architects, Everyone Quite Likes Justin, 1834, 1835, The Cavity Within. He has written the plays The Joey, Too Up Too Down, Chopin in Manchester, The Downing Street Doppelganger, My Computer Told Me To Do It. He also adapted Vanity Fair and The Day of the Locust. He is also a well-known TV producer whose credits include Cold Feet, Brassic, Death in Paradise and Shameless.

Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale

Technical Team, Keith Graham and Andy Garratt

Production Co-Ordinator, Jonathan Powell

Casting Manager, Alex Curran


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m002n10d)
History's Toughest Heroes

Ida B. Wells and the Red Recorder

With lynchings of Black Americans on the rise, a reporter begins documenting the crimes, sending her on a dangerous journey through the violence of the Jim Crow South.

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

After a humiliating standoff with a train conductor in the American South, the young Ida B Wells decided to make a stand. Racism was rife, and Lynchings of Black people were increasingly common. A talented writer at a time when most people were unable, or too afraid to speak out, she used journalism to expose the horrible truth of the violence and injustices being perpetrated. It put a target on her own back.

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

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


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m002n10g)
René Girard: The Catholic thinker influencing Silicon Valley

René Girard was a French intellectual working at Stanford University in San Francisco in the 70s and 80s who came up with some compelling theories about human behaviour and the origin of religion. A decade after his death, he is also being quoted by Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel and Vice-President JD Vance.

Why is Girard having such a moment? What is it about his theories of mimetic desire and scapegoating that resonate right now? And is there a key Christian message being missed out by his new devotees? Rev Giles Fraser has a Girard 101. He's in a discussion with his Girard's friend and biographer Cynthia Haven, theologian Michael Kirwan SJ from Trinity College Dublin and philosopher Dr Alexander Douglas, author of 'Against Identity: The Wisdom of Escaping the Self'

Thanks to Sam Sorich, director of 'Things Hidden: the life and legacy of René Girard' and Professor Robert Pogue Harrison for use of Stanford Radio archive.

Presenter: Giles Fraser
Studio Manager; Mark Ward
Asst Producer: Charlie Filmer-Court
Producer: Catherine Murray
Editor Tim Pemberton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002nbp8)
Do You Call That Singing?

From Mark E Smith to Patti Smith, from Bob Dylan to Dry Cleaning - why are many of the most captivating performers, in what we might loosely call 'rock' music, singers who don't actually sing?
 
We wouldn't tolerate drummers who can't keep time or guitarists who can't strum a chord. Yet when it comes to vocalists, many of the most successful don't 'sing' a note. Why?  And where did this technique come from?
 
It's linked to - but different from - the recitative (i.e. spoken word) of an opera, and the Germans have two words for it - sprechgesang or sprechstimme. Arnold Schoenberg is said to have defined sprechgesang in his 1912 opera, Pierrot Lunaire, but we can also look further back to the talking blues and folk music.

Recently, bands like Yard Act, Sleaford Mods, Self Esteem, Dry Cleaning, Black Country New Road, Kae Tempest, Big Special and Idles have used this technique to rage about social ills - as well as punk pop artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Wet Leg. But what separates good sprechgesang from bad? Why do some non traditional vocalists resonate with audiences while others fail? Is it rap?
 
Former music journalist Adrian Goldberg learns from his hero Robert Lloyd of The Nightingales and Florence Shaw of Dry Cleaning how to sprechgesang, he channels the avant-garde spirit of Schoenberg with soprano Claire Booth, asks rapper and saxophonist Soweto Kinch about the power of freestyle, and dares to ask the music historian Elijah Wald if Bob Dylan was just a bad singer. Finally, Adrian meets fellow Brummie Joe Hicklin from Big Special, who uses the direct and authentic nature of speech despite the fact he can sing very well.

Can Adrian take what he's learnt and fulfil his dream of becoming a rock star? He might not be a singer but he can shout!

Produced by Helen Lennard and John Cranmer
A True Thought production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002n10j)
Can we change what we believe about our bodies?

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

In this episode, they’re asking why beliefs about our bodies are so powerful? We often think of belief as something soft – just ideas in our heads. But beliefs can shape how we experience pain, how we heal, and even how societies behave. In health, they can influence whether treatments work and how symptoms are felt.

So what actually are beliefs? Why do we them, and how do they form? And can changing what we believe about our bodies actually change how we feel?

To help answer these questions, Chris and Xand are joined by Ryan McKay, Professor of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, and an expert on the psychology of belief.

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

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

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

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m002n10l)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002n10n)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m002n10q)
Series 3

3. Alpacalypse Now

Frank & guests Simon Evans, Harriet Kemsley, Chloe Petts & Rajiv Karia discuss the usual; potatoes, limes, feathers, drainage systems of Ancient Civilizations etc etc

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!

Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002n0hx)
Brad faces a sad goodbye, and Ian makes a suggestion.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002n10s)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002n0hg)
Adoption: The Blame Game

File on 4 Investigates discovers a world of lies and blame within adoption in the UK. The BBC has conducted the most extensive Freedom of Information request ever into adoptions that have broken down, finding that more than 1,000 adopted children in the UK have returned to care in the past five years. That is much higher than the figure in a recent government report - but the true number is likely to be even larger, as only a third of authorities said they collected this data as standard practice. Some adoptive parents say they’ve been given so little support that they’ve been forced to return their children to the care system. This programme explores the scale of the crisis as we hear from parents pushed to the limit, a teenager returned to care and a social worker giving a rare view of the system from the inside.

Producer: Ashley Kennedy & Claire Kendall
Reporter: Judith Moritz
Sound designer: Richard Hannaford
Production coordinator: Hattie Valentine
Editor: Tara McDermott

(Photo: Close-up portrait of couple Verity & Ian standing outdoors. Credit: Brij Patel)
(Audio: “Family is Love” TV advert – Adoption Now”)


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002n10v)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Artworks (m002mmsh)
Omid's Tapes: The Afghan Memory Keeper

Based in California, Omid works with a team spread across the globe to find and save Afghan music, radio recordings, films, and TV shows from the past, seeking to preserve the identities and voices of those who have been displaced by war.

Fragments of a once-vibrant cultural heritage that the Taliban seeks to erase, these recordings are not just old tapes - they represent the memories, stories, and sounds of the Afghan people. Their significance goes beyond their musical and historical value - they are a lifeline to a lost world, a bridge between the past and future, and a testament to the resilience of Afghan culture.

Tamana Ayazi, Afghan journalist and Emmy-award-winning filmmaker (In Her Hands, Netflix), joins Omid and his team in their latest rescue mission, to secretly transfer two major collections of Afghan cassettes from Samangan and Kandahar, at opposite ends of the country, via perilous routes into Quetta Pakistan, and finally to Omid in the United States.

Will the tapes - and the people who carry them - make it safely across Afghan security checkpoints and pass through US customs?

Presenter and Director: Tamana Ayazi
Producers: Tamana Ayazi and Meera Kumar
Executive Producer: Charlotte Melén
Sound Design and Mixing: Jeff Emtman
Contributors: Omid, Quetta Mama, Lahore Mama
Quetta Mama's voice: Shuja Noori

An Almost Tangible production for Radio 4

Includes short music excerpts from:
Fawad Ramez - Na Rahat Az Falak
Farid Samim Zolfakayat and Rafti Tu - فرید صمیم - زلفكايت و رفته تو
Rohullah Roheen - Hala Ke Baharam
Wahid Saberi - Dil Tangam
Zahir Howaida - Emshab (امشب)
Nashenas - Zi Pur Lwaru Ghrunu Laila
Yulduz Usmonova - Эрон Халқ Қўшиғи (“Iran People’s Song”)
Farhad Darya (Freedy Rivers) - Baaz Amada
Unknown Artist - Dā də bātorāno kor (Taliban anthem of Afghanistan)
Khosh Naseeb janan - Pashto must Nazam
Unknown Artist - یو لښکر د عمر
Ahmad Zahir - Gole Sangam
Ahmad Zahir - Shaadi Kunaid Ay Dostaan
Ahmad Zahir - Tanha Shudam Tanha
Ustad Mahwash - Dokhtare Kochi Astom


TUE 21:30 Artworks (m002mbmz)
Okay Computer? Music in the Age of AI

Famed producer Giles Martin wades into the murky waters of A.I.'s rise in music, investigating the economic risks, creative rewards, and existential fallout of the powerful new technology. Featuring stories of inspiration and warning from Holly Herndon, St Vincent, David Arnold, and Baroness Beeban Kidron.

Produced by Frank Palmer
A Cup & Nuzzle production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002n10x)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (m002n10z)
Episode 2

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix , translated by Helen Stevenson, is inspired by the actual events surrounding the deaths of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in the early hours of the 24th November 2021.  As the sea overwhelmed the dinghy they had set out in, the migrants’ telephone calls for help and the French call operator’s responses and frequently off the cuff, callous asides, were recorded, and later published by the French media. 

The author takes these events as the starting point for a work of fiction. The narrative is voiced in the words of the French naval coastguard - it was her job , she is at pains to tell the police investigator, to assess the calls for help and allocate the rescue centre’s limited resources according to the most urgent need. But as her increasingly defensive arguments begin to unravel, we witness a mind where intrusive images of drowning figures crowd in. Accused of being a monster for her lack of empathy, the accusation is thrown back at us – where is our humanity and what did we do to save the drowning souls ?

This is a story which puts all of us in the spotlight – complicit in looking the other way, implicated in readily blaming others, and guilty for not wanting to think too much about where responsibility lies for the deaths of those who felt their limbs grow cold and leaden as the black of night gave way to grey dawn.

In an interview with Dua Lipa for her global book club, Service95, Vincent Delecroix observed that "imagination is the first moral faculty". In this work of fiction, he asks us to deploy our own imaginations as fully as we can, before we venture to make any kind of moral judgement.

Producer Jill Waters says, "I have rarely if ever finished a recording session so fired up by the energy of a challenging text brought viscerally to life. Small Boat is a gripping portrait of a woman struggling to deflect guilt, deny responsibility and maintain that these deaths - this journey - was not her idea. But every so often her argument collapses in on itself and we glimpse an internal chasm of doubt and fear. Lydia Wilson gives a superb performance, moving between demotic bluster and brittle sarcasm with devastating moments of guileless indifference, whilst all the time shame gnaws at her soul.

Small Boat was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 . It was originally published in 2023 in French by Gallimard as "Naufrage".

Read by Lydia Wilson and Tommy Sim’aan (episodes 5 and 6)

Written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson

Abridged and directed by Jill Waters

The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m002n111)
Series 5

Episode 6

Danny Robins returns for more spine-chilling tales from listeners.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002n113)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 03 DECEMBER 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002n115)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Piccadilly (m000w9tx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002n117)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002n119)
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 (m002n11c)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002n11f)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002n11h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002n11k)
Just being

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002n11m)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002n0h8)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m002n0hb)
Turning agony into award-winning art

As a young man, engineer Michael Ashcroft was plagued by excruciating headaches, along with neck pain and a rushing sound in his ear. Eventually scans were made revealing a tumour the size of a tangerine behind his left ear. It required twelve hours of complex surgery and left Michael with temporary deafness in one ear, a lopsided face, limited swallowing and barely any capacity for speech. Seeing his face reflected in a hospital window he was appalled and at the same time profoundly moved. Half his face was in daylight, the handsome young man who had entered the hospital a few days before. The other half, in shade, looked to him like a monster. In an instant he had an overwhelming desire to capture that image, and to do that he would become a painter – drawing comparisons to the industrial artistic genius of L.S. Lowry.

Michael talks to Dr Sian Williams about the challenges of recovery, and describes his determination to teach himself to paint.

Producer: Tom Alban


WED 09:30 Shadow World (m002mr53)
Anatomy of a Cancellation

4. The Defence of Kate Clanchy

Although Kate Clanchy faces a torrent of criticism in the summer of 2021, many people supported her — fellow writers, journalists, and some of her own students. They say she has been misunderstood.

Katie Razzall speaks to those who stood by her—including a former student who credits Kate Clanchy with empowering him and others through poetry and mentorship.

In Shadow World: Anatomy of a Cancellation, the BBC’s Culture Editor Katie Razzall revisits a story that rocked the UK’s publishing industry in 2021. It led to what some saw as the unjustified cancellation of a prize-winning writer and teacher - but to others, was a long overdue reckoning for the world of publishing. It grew into a culture war about race, class, and who has the right to say what.

Anatomy of a Cancellation explores a range of different perspectives to consider how people now view one of the most controversial literary rows in recent memory.

Presenter: Katie Razzall
Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Additional production: Octavia Woodward
Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Story editing: Meara Sharma
Series producer: Matt Willis
Senior news editor: Clare Fordham
Commissioning executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning editor: Dan Clarke

It was a BBC Long Form Audio production for Radio 4.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002n0hd)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002n0hg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002n0hj)
1st to 7th December

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

This week: 1st to 7th December
4th December 1961 - Announcement of birth control pill approval and use on NHS
5th December 1933 - End of prohibition in the US
4th of December 1154 Pope Adrian IV elected – the only Englishman to ascend to papacy

Presented by Jane Steel and Viji Alles


WED 11:45 Piccadilly (m000wc5g)
YMCA

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

In the third episdoe of Piccadilly Krupa discovers the important role the Central YMCA in London played in supporting these men as they established themselves in London. For Praful he'd not spoken Gujarati for many years having been sent to boarding school in the UK when he was 10. After finding it hard to find somewhere to live in London Praful walked into the Central YMCA and met Champak and friends all speaking Gujarati in the common room.

Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002n0hl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002n0hn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002n0hq)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002n0hs)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 The History Podcast (m002n0hv)
The Arrest

3. The Judge

Augusto Pinochet won't be in London for much longer, so the lawyer leading the case against the dictator needs to act fast if he is to secure the help of the UK authorities. But the Spanish judge in charge of the investigation is moving too slowly.

Meanwhile, there are powerful figures in the Spanish legal establishment trying to block the case, and the former Chilean dictator himself - now aware of the moves being made against him - has been applying pressure to shut it down.

So the lawyer takes a professional risk and looks to a different judge for help - one with a reputation for fearlessness and ruffling feathers.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands.
The series producer is Simon Tulett.
Sound design and mixing is by Tom Brignell.
The production co-ordinators are Helena Warwick-Cross and Tammy Snow.
The editor is Matt Willis.

Philippe Sands is the author of '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'.


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002n0hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Trust (m002n0hz)
Series 6 – 1. The Big Bad Wolf

Jonathan Hall's comedy drama about a Salford secondary school starring Julie Hesmondhalgh.

Even tougher financial pressure on ES Academy leads the school's fearsome financial fixer, 'big bad wolf' Dhrutti to make drastic cost-cutting decisions. Yvette navigates this alongside a troublesome student pushing their support worker to the edge and a new AI system introduced by Sir Ken.

YVETTE.....Julie Hesmondhalgh
CAROL / QUEENIE.....Susan Twist
TIM.....Ashley Margolis
SIR KEN.....Jonathan Keeble
DHRUTTI.....Mina Anwar
RHONA.....Katherine Kelly
LOGAN.....Ellis Hollins

Writer - Jonathan Hall
Director- Nadia Molinari
Technical Producer - Sharon Hughes
Additional Technical Production - Kelly Young
Production Co-ordinator - Victoria Moseley

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 Money Box (m002n0j1)
The latest news from the world of personal finance


WED 15:30 Child (m002n0j3)
Series 2

5. Sadness

India Rakusen examines why humans cry, what tears mean and why we might want to question our ability to read the mind in the face.

Taking a look at the science and psychology behind crying, from infancy through adulthood, and how tears connect to empathy and emotional development, experts explain how crying signals helplessness, invites support, and shapes social bonds.

The programme also explores how culture, gender, and upbringing influence how we express and understand emotions.

Presented by India Rakusen.
Producer: Ellie Sans
Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young
Executive producer: Alex Hollands
Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi
Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4


WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002mz6l)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002mz6n)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002n0j5)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002n0j7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Unite (m001mt90)
Series 2

Macbeth

After Eileen at the caff reads Tony’s tea leaves, he decides to run for the local council. However, he’s also promised Imogen they would join PADS (Putney Amateur Dramatics Society) where a pretentious director wants to stage a radical version of Macbeth.

Rebecca suggests that, unless Gideon can get a job, he should be the primary carer for their baby prompting Gideon to offer his services as Tony’s Campaign Communication Director for the upcoming election.

Ashley has joined a dating app called Sophistidate as he’s looking for “a classy girl with good manners and that” but, on his first date at an all-you-can-eat buffet, he’s convinced his date has ulterior motives.

A welcome return for the critically-acclaimed sitcom.

When Tony (Mark Steel), a working class, left wing South Londoner, falls in love and marries Imogen (Claire Skinner), an upper middle class property developer, their sons - Croydon chancer Ashley (Elliot Steel) and supercilious Eton and Oxford-educated Gideon (Ivo Graham) - are forced to live under the same roof and behave like the brothers neither of them ever wanted.

Cast:
Tony - Mark Steel
Imogen - Claire Skinner
Ashley - Elliot Steel
Gideon - Ivo Graham
Rebecca - Ayesha Antoine
Nigel - Simon Greenall
Tamsin - Susannah Fielding
Eileen - Ruth Bratt
Liz - Sally-Anne Hayward
Carol - Angela Barnes
Piers - Barry Castagnola
Delivery driver - Ian Pearce

Written by Barry Castagnola and Ian Pearce
(additional material from the cast)
Executive Producer- Mario Stylianides
Producer/Director- Barry Castagnola
Sound recordist and Editor- Jerry Peal
Broadcast Assistant - Sarah Tombling
Assistant Producer - George O'Regan
Production Assistant - David Litchfield

A Golden Path and Rustle Up production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002mz5z)
Pat offers a helping hand, and Tony makes his pitch.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002n0j9)
Composer John Rutter

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m002n0jc)
Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.


WED 21:00 The Reith Lectures (m002n0jf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002n0jh)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (m002n0jk)
Episode 3

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix , translated by Helen Stevenson, is inspired by the actual events surrounding the deaths of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in the early hours of the 24th November 2021.  As the sea overwhelmed the dinghy they had set out in, the migrants’ telephone calls for help and the French call operator’s responses and frequently off the cuff, callous asides, were recorded, and later published by the French media. 

The author takes these events as the starting point for a work of fiction. The narrative is voiced in the words of the French naval coastguard - it was her job , she is at pains to tell the police investigator, to assess the calls for help and allocate the rescue centre’s limited resources according to the most urgent need. But as her increasingly defensive arguments begin to unravel, we witness a mind where intrusive images of drowning figures crowd in. Accused of being a monster for her lack of empathy, the accusation is thrown back at us – where is our humanity and what did we do to save the drowning souls ?

This is a story which puts all of us in the spotlight – complicit in looking the other way, implicated in readily blaming others, and guilty for not wanting to think too much about where responsibility lies for the deaths of those who felt their limbs grow cold and leaden as the black of night gave way to grey dawn.

In an interview with Dua Lipa for her global book club, Service95, Vincent Delecroix observed that "imagination is the first moral faculty". In this work of fiction, he asks us to deploy our own imaginations as fully as we can, before we venture to make any kind of moral judgement.

Producer Jill Waters says, "I have rarely if ever finished a recording session so fired up by the energy of a challenging text brought viscerally to life. Small Boat is a gripping portrait of a woman struggling to deflect guilt, deny responsibility and maintain that these deaths - this journey - was not her idea. But every so often her argument collapses in on itself and we glimpse an internal chasm of doubt and fear. Lydia Wilson gives a superb performance, moving between demotic bluster and brittle sarcasm with devastating moments of guileless indifference, whilst all the time shame gnaws at her soul.

Small Boat was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 . It was originally published in 2023 in French by Gallimard as "Naufrage".

Read by Lydia Wilson and Tommy Sim’aan (episodes 5 and 6)

Written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson

Abridged and directed by Jill Waters

The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 Tom & Lauren Are Going OOT (m002n0jm)
Series 2

4. Great North Ran

It's the day of the Great North Run and Tom and Lauren have both signed up, along with Tom's sister Tilly. Tilly moved to London after her graduation from a boarding school and claims she no longer understands the Geordie accent. This makes Lauren particularly annoyed as Tilly pretends not to be able to understand her.

As Tom goes through his ridiculous warm up routine he discovers he has signed up to the wrong race.

Cast:
Tom Machell as Tom
Lauren Pattison as Lauren
Sarah Balfour as Tilly

Writers: Tom Machell & Lauren Pattison
Director: Katharine Armitage
Recording Engineer: Philip Quinton
Sound Design: Philip Quinton
Theme Music: Scrannabis
Producers: Maria Caruana Galizia & Zahra Zomorrodian
A Candle & Bell production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 No-Platformed (m00187y3)
Series 1

Time Capsule

Episode 1: Time Capsule.

From the writers and producers behind the multi-award-winning The Skewer and The Naked Week.

Three members of staff, one dysfunctional railway station, zero passengers. Brand new comedy that drives a train through sitcom-land via a platform crowded with big name cameos, absurd goings-on, and very silly jokes.

Starring
Geoff McGivern (Ghosts / Peep Show / Hitchhiker's Guide .. .oh, hundreds of things)
Tim Downie (Toast of London / Upstart Crow / Good Omens)
Alexandra Mardell (Coronation St)

With
Olivia Williams (Ten Percent, The Crown, The Father, The Sixth Sense)
Rufus Jones (Paddington / Stan and Ollie / Ch4’s Home)
Tracy Ann Oberman (EastEnders / Toast of London / Friday Night Dinner)
Hugh Dennis (Fleabag / Outnumbered / Mock The Week / The Now Show)

Featuring
Jake Yapp
Naomi McDonald
Yoriko Kotani

Written by Gareth Ceredig
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes.

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002n0jp)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 04 DECEMBER 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002n0jr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Piccadilly (m000wc5g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002n0jt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002n0jw)
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 (m002n0jy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002n0k0)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002n0k2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002n0k4)
A bit of hush

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002n0k6)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002mz5b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000x6tr)
Shakespeare's Sonnets

To celebrate Melvyn Bragg’s 27 years presenting In Our Time, some well-known fans of the programme have chosen their favourite episodes. Historian and broadcaster Simon Schama has selected the episode on Shakespeare’s Sonnets and recorded an introduction to it. (This introduction will be available on BBC Sounds and the In Our Time webpage shortly after the broadcast and will be longer than the one broadcast on Radio 4). In 1609 Thomas Thorpe published a collection of poems entitled Shakespeare’s Sonnets, “never before imprinted”. Yet, while some of Shakespeare's other poems and many of his plays were often reprinted in his lifetime, the Sonnets were not a publishing success. They had to make their own way, outside the main canon of Shakespeare’s work: wonderful, troubling, patchy, inspiring and baffling, and they have appealed in different ways to different times. Most are addressed to a man, something often overlooked and occasionally concealed; one early and notorious edition even changed some of the pronouns.

With:

Hannah Crawforth
Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at King’s College London

Don Paterson
Poet and Professor of Poetry at the University of St Andrews

And

Emma Smith
Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, Oxford

Producer: Simon Tillotson

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 people, ideas, events and discoveries that have shaped our world

In Our Time is a BBC Studios production


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002mz5f)
Armando Iannucci and guests decode the utterly baffling world of political language.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002mz5h)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m002kjvf)
Series 34

Fusion – Ria Lina, Yasmin Andrew and Howard Wilson

Robin Ince and Brian Cox get all fired up, overcome their natural repulsion and come together for this stellar episode on nuclear fusion. They’re joined by plasma physicist Yasmin Andrew, fusion scientist Howard Wilson and comedian Ria Lina to uncover the secrets of star-making here on our planet.

Together the panel discovers how the sun fuses atoms to release energy and why misbehaving, jiggling plasma makes this tricky to recreate on Earth. They explore the competing technological approaches — from giant magnets to the world’s biggest lasers — and find out that the hottest place in the solar system is, in fact, in Oxfordshire. Finally, they ask whether fusion could really provide an unlimited source of clean energy, or whether the technology will forever be “just 20 years away”.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A BBC Studios Production


THU 11:45 Piccadilly (m000wcy9)
Work

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

After arriving in London and completing their studies the next step was finding work. They'd studied hard to gain qualification in accountancy, law and engineering and didn't give up until they found employment but racism in their work place was never far away.

Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002mz5l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 Scam Secrets (m002mz5n)
We've Noticed Your CV

You might be on the lookout for work - so when a message arrives with a job offer, the timing is perfect. This is what happens to the people who are drawn in by the fake recruitment text scam that has been bombarding people's phones.

Shari Vahl, Dr Elisabeth Carter and Alex Wood hear how one man was lured in with promises of payment for simple tasks - then trapped in a cycle of payments and false earnings, even unwittingly becoming a money mule for the criminal pretending to be his boss. Just to ramp up the psychological pressure, his 'co-workers' were also in on the act.

The Scam Secrets team will dissect the criminals' methods, revealing what lies behind this extremely common and seemingly innocuous text message. And they'll wave their red flags so you can safely steer clear of what could turn out to be a very expensive job offer.

PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL

PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002mz5q)
Toast - Skype

Why did Skype fall out of favour in a world of global video calls?

The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, investigates with the entrepreneur, Sam White, alongside him.

Sam never knows what's coming so, at the end of every episode of Toast, she gives her off-the-cuff and authentic professional opinions on why a brand disappeared based on what she has just heard and her own business knowhow.

In this episode, we learn how Skype worked by using Voice Over Internet Protocol to send audio and video data over the internet. It connected users through a centralized, cloud-based service which allowed free voice and video calls between Skype users.

It really changed the game when it came to keeping in touch with friends and family around the world. It helped grandparents meet their grandchildren for the first time without leaving the house and gave us a way of cutting our phone bills.

Sean interviews:

- Peter Raeburn - an award-winning composer who worked with Skype’s founders to create the iconic sounds that became the familiar sound track to Skype which, at its peak, was used by over 300 million people worldwide.

- Andrew Sinclair - a General Manager for Skype for Business who offers his insight into what happened after Skype was sold by Ebay, and snapped up by tech giant, Microsoft.

-Sam Shead - a journalist who witnessed how Skype changed the world of communication, soaring and then sinking and has taken an in depth look at the names behind the brand, so what did he uncover?

Produced by Linda Walker.

Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

You can email the programme at toast@bbc.co.uk

Feel free to suggest topics which could be covered in future episodes.


THU 12:57 Weather (m002mz5s)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002mz5v)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 The History Podcast (m002mz5x)
The Arrest

4. The Warrant

When the Spanish judge pursuing Augusto Pinochet learns the dictator is about to leave London - for the safety of Chile - much sooner than expected, he makes a snap decision that will have enormous international consequences.

He needs Spain's legal machinery to act, but there's one big problem - it's a Friday afternoon, and almost everyone at Madrid's National Court has gone home for the weekend.

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands
The series producer is Simon Tulett
The editor is Matt Willis


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002mz5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001fw8g)
Sidelined

Written by Kirsty Smith

Alice, an up-and-coming scriptwriter, has a TV film she’s proud of and a high-profile director attached. It’s a huge break and, for once, everything seems to be going her way. Then, after a work night out, a colleague is left alone with the director and returns shaken, saying he crossed a line. The fallout tests Alice to the core, forcing a choice between ambition, solidarity and a truth she’s kept to herself.

Sidelined is an original drama about power, loyalty and who gets to tell the story. Alice is determined that no one will sideline her this time.

Alice.....Kate Coogan
Carl.....Jason Done
Sita.....Saira Choudhry
Kamran.....Darren Kuppan
Shan…..Angela Lonsdale
Esme.....Lauren Patel

Sound design - John Benton
Technical production - Simon Highfield
Production co-ordinator - Lorna Newman
Director/Producer - Jessica Mitic

A BBC Audio Drama North production

Note for press:
This is writer, Kirsty Smith's debut audio drama. She has written numerous plays for the stage. She is part of the Royal Court Playwriting Group 2023 and is currently developing a new play about the Bradford Women’s Evening Cricket League.


THU 15:00 This Natural Life (m002mz61)
Emma Pinchbeck

Emma Pinchbeck is the Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Change Committee - the independent body which advises the government on emissions targets and the impacts of climate change. She grew up in the Cotswolds, where Martha Kearney meets her to hear about her love of the Gloucestershire countryside. Emma talks about her childhood in the Stroud valleys, where her family roots go back twelve generations and where she is now bringing up her own children. She explains how deeply-rooted her connection to the natural world is - influencing everything from her choice of college as a teenager to her decision to give up a job in finance and work instead in the environmental sector.

Producer: Emma Campbell


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002mz0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m002mz63)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience.


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002mz65)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txn)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m002mz68)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002mz6b)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Rum Punch (m002mz6d)
Series 1

2. Date Night

Taylor tries to charm an important student from her college with unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, Delroy tries to butter up Angie before delivering some news he knows she won’t like.

Created by Travis Jay, Rum Punch is an award-winning sitcom that follows a multigenerational family as they juggle pursuit of their individual ambitions with their responsibilities to the family business - a Caribbean restaurant in the heart of Lewisham.

Rum Punch cast:

Grandma - Ninia Benjamin
Michael – Joseph Charm
Des - Kevin Garry (KG Tha Comedian)
Taylor - Kyrah Gray
Marley - Travis Jay
Angie - Angie Le Mar
Delroy - Eddie Nestor

Writer – Travis Jay
Additional Material – Danielle Vitalis
Script Editor - Atlanta Green and Leah Chillery
Sound Engineer – David Thomas
Editor – David Thomas
Production Assistant – Sahar Malaika Rajabali, Eunice Oshiguwa, Jessica Fatoye
Producers – Daisy Knight and Jules Lom
Executive Producers – Richard Allen-Turner and Jon Thoday

An Avalon Television Production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002mz6g)
Ed faces a heartbreaking situation, and there's rivalry building for Hannah.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002mz6j)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002mz6l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002mz6n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002mys4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002mz5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002mz6q)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (m002mz6s)
Episode 4

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix , translated by Helen Stevenson, is inspired by the actual events surrounding the deaths of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in the early hours of the 24th November 2021.  As the sea overwhelmed the dinghy they had set out in, the migrants’ telephone calls for help and the French call operator’s responses and frequently off the cuff, callous asides, were recorded, and later published by the French media. 

The author takes these events as the starting point for a work of fiction. The narrative is voiced in the words of the French naval coastguard - it was her job , she is at pains to tell the police investigator, to assess the calls for help and allocate the rescue centre’s limited resources according to the most urgent need. But as her increasingly defensive arguments begin to unravel, we witness a mind where intrusive images of drowning figures crowd in. Accused of being a monster for her lack of empathy, the accusation is thrown back at us – where is our humanity and what did we do to save the drowning souls ?

This is a story which puts all of us in the spotlight – complicit in looking the other way, implicated in readily blaming others, and guilty for not wanting to think too much about where responsibility lies for the deaths of those who felt their limbs grow cold and leaden as the black of night gave way to grey dawn.

In an interview with Dua Lipa for her global book club, Service95, Vincent Delecroix observed that "imagination is the first moral faculty". In this work of fiction, he asks us to deploy our own imaginations as fully as we can, before we venture to make any kind of moral judgement.

Producer Jill Waters says, "I have rarely if ever finished a recording session so fired up by the energy of a challenging text brought viscerally to life. Small Boat is a gripping portrait of a woman struggling to deflect guilt, deny responsibility and maintain that these deaths - this journey - was not her idea. But every so often her argument collapses in on itself and we glimpse an internal chasm of doubt and fear. Lydia Wilson gives a superb performance, moving between demotic bluster and brittle sarcasm with devastating moments of guileless indifference, whilst all the time shame gnaws at her soul.

Small Boat was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 . It was originally published in 2023 in French by Gallimard as "Naufrage".

Read by Lydia Wilson and Tommy Sim’aan (episodes 5 and 6)

Written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson

Abridged and directed by Jill Waters

The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002mz6w)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002mz6y)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 05 DECEMBER 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002mz70)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Piccadilly (m000wcy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002mz72)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002mz74)
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 (m002mz78)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002mz7d)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002mz7j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002mz7n)
Fun, feasts, flowers, faith

Spiritual reflection with Ronnie Convery, Director of Communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002mz7s)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002n0r3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002mz0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002n0r5)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002n0r7)
The Food Books of 2025

Leyla Kazim takes a look at the best food books and writing from 2025. She speaks to food writer and author Ruby Tandoh about the titles that have stood out to her this year and what makes food writing meaningful right now.

Leyla also brings together the rest of The Food Programme presenters - Sheila Dillon, Dan Saladino and Jaega Wise - to share their personal picks. There will be books to get you cooking, books to get you thinking, and even a few foodie novels.

The programme will also look at how food writers in 2025 are finding new ways to share their work, including platforms like Substack, where many are publishing recipes and essays directly to readers. And we hear from Carla Lalli Music - cookbook author and former Bon Appétit food director - who helps bust some common myths about recipe books and talks about what makes a cookbook genuinely useful.

Presented by Leyla Kazim
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol.


FRI 11:45 Piccadilly (m000wdgy)
Settled

The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad, Chandu. It's 1965 and Chandu had just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Kenya, Malawi and even Yemen countries which all experienced extraordinary social change as British rule came to an end.

The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street, London. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.

In the final episode of Piccadilly Chandu, Praful and Champak reflect on the choices they made and the lives they strived so hard to achieve.

Presenter Krupa Padhy
Producer Kate Bissell
With thanks to Praful Patel for the photo. Left to right there is Champak, Fazel, Chandu, Indu and Pravin.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002n0r9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m002n0rc)
Hiding in Plain Sight

A celebration of city wildlife from across the world. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski uncover the species that live alongside us.

Producer: Emma Campbell

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002n0rf)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002n0rh)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 The History Podcast (m002n0rk)
The Arrest

5. The Dictator

Augusto Pinochet is woken by his nurse around midnight and a few minutes later finds a handful of British police officers at the foot of his bed, with an international warrant for his arrest.

The dictator is furious, as are his supporters, but among his victims and their families there is joy and relief.

His arrest is unprecedented and is hailed by human rights campaigners as a landmark moment - a "wake-up call to tyrants around the world" - but will the general actually face justice?

The Arrest is presented by Philippe Sands
The series producer is Simon Tulett
The editor is Matt Willis


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002mz6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002n0rm)
Murder on Mars

Episode 4

Mars, 2048. The first settlers, a mix of international workers and the super-rich. And the first unexplained death.

When a body turns up in the corridor between a scrappy warehouse and a half-built luxury hotel, no-nonsense Harbourmaster Rita Siddiqui finds herself in charge. With Earth temporarily out of contact and no official law enforcement on Mars, she ropes in Vice Captain Jaz Hickson, a wide-eyed young pilot who’s only just landed.

But murder’s not their only problem. Atmospheric tests have triggered a dangerous storm. Paranoia grows as the power fails. Lights, gravity, oxygen: everything is at risk.

Rita and Jaz must navigate a growing list of suspects, a dwindling supply of patience, and a killer who’s not finished yet.

Because even 140 million miles from Earth, people still have secrets. And someone’s willing to kill to keep them.


Jaz finds a surprise resident on Mars. And Rita and Jaz venture onto the surface.

Written by Tim Foley

CAST
RITA SIDDIQUI ..... NISHA NAYAR
JAZ HICKSON ..... LUKE NEWBERRY
DAN ..... JOANA BORJA
DR LI ..... CRYSTAL YU
GRACE ….. ELIZABETH AYODELE
DAMIEN ZERO ….. PAUL HILTON
MAX ..... SIDHANT ANAND

Sound: Sharon Hughes, Keith Graham and Neva Missirian
Production Co-ordinator: Luke MacGregor
Director: Anne Isger
Casting Manager: Alex Curran

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 New Storytellers (m002hbkl)
In Living Memory

'In Living Memory' is a deeply intimate and sensitive story that follows Shadé Joseph as she sends a voice message to her eldest brother, who died 17 years before she was born. She has the quiet belief that he is somewhere out there, listening. For what felt like a lifetime, Shadé sensed him knocking on the door of her heart, but fear held her back from answering, uncertain of the pain it might awaken in her family. Then, on one seemingly ordinary day in November 2024, she found the courage to let him in. What unfolds is a tender reflection on how his absence became a legacy that shaped the lives of every child in the family who came after him.

New Storytellers presents the work of new student audio producers, and this series features the winners of the Charles Parker Prize 2025 for the Best Student Radio Feature. These awards are presented every year in memory of the pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. The series is introduced by Charles’ daughter, Sara Parker, an award-winning radio producer in her own right.

Shadé Joseph is a student at UCL East studying an MA in Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast. The judges said of her Gold Charles Parker Prize winning feature, “I found this programme extremely moving,” commented one judge. “The narrator’s script was honest, vulnerable, at times playful... A small idea with a lot of heart!... overall, a wonderful piece of radio.”

Producer: Shadé Joseph
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002n0rp)
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002n0rr)
Evening Routine by Natasha Kaeda

Rumour has it the Northern Lights will be seen over Haverfordwest tonight. But how do we experience wonder in a digital age?

Short story by Natasha Kaeda, read by Sara Gregory.
Producer: Fay Lomas
Studio Manager: Catherine Robinson
Production Co-ordinators: Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002n0rt)
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 (m002n0hb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002n0rw)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002n0ry)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m002n0s0)
Series 3

Episode 6

A bold, audacious take on the week’s news, with a blend of the silly and the serious.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002n0s2)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Rosemary Watts
Editor: Jeremy Howe

30th Nov - 5th December

Pat Archer.... Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer.... David Troughton
Chris Carter.... Wilf Scolding
Neil Carter.... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig.... Stephen Kennedy
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
Clarrie Grundy.... Heather Bell
Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Alistair Lloyd.... Michael Lumsden
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Hannah Riley.... Helen Longworth


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002n0s4)
Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe explore the rich web of connections in music.


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002n0s6)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002n0hj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002n0s8)
Influencing History

Do individuals or broader forces shape history? In the 2025 Reith lectures on BBC Radio 4, Rutger Bregman argues that small groups of individuals can have an outsize influence and he looks to examples in history from suffragism to the ending of slavery. In the Free Thinking studio for Radio 4's round-table discussion about the history of ideas, Matthew Sweet is joined by:

Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer prize winning historian and author of Autocracy Inc, which looks at the networks linking powerful people in our world
Jake Subryan Richards, New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and AHRC which puts research on radio. His new book is The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade
Selina Todd, historian and author of The People: The Rise and Fall of the Working Class
Clare Jackson, historian of seventeenth century Britain, whose latest book is Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI & I
Rupert Read, philosopher, climate advocate and co author of Transformative Adaptation and The Climate Majority Project

Producer: Eliane Glaser


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002n0sb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix (m002n0sd)
Episode 5

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix , translated by Helen Stevenson, is inspired by the actual events surrounding the deaths of 27 migrants who drowned in the English Channel in the early hours of the 24th November 2021.  As the sea overwhelmed the dinghy they had set out in, the migrants’ telephone calls for help and the French call operator’s responses and frequently off the cuff, callous asides, were recorded, and later published by the French media. 

The author takes these events as the starting point for a work of fiction. The narrative is voiced in the words of the French naval coastguard - it was her job , she is at pains to tell the police investigator, to assess the calls for help and allocate the rescue centre’s limited resources according to the most urgent need. But as her increasingly defensive arguments begin to unravel, we witness a mind where intrusive images of drowning figures crowd in. Accused of being a monster for her lack of empathy, the accusation is thrown back at us – where is our humanity and what did we do to save the drowning souls ?

This is a story which puts all of us in the spotlight – complicit in looking the other way, implicated in readily blaming others, and guilty for not wanting to think too much about where responsibility lies for the deaths of those who felt their limbs grow cold and leaden as the black of night gave way to grey dawn.

In an interview with Dua Lipa for her global book club, Service95, Vincent Delecroix observed that "imagination is the first moral faculty". In this work of fiction, he asks us to deploy our own imaginations as fully as we can, before we venture to make any kind of moral judgement.

Producer Jill Waters says, "I have rarely if ever finished a recording session so fired up by the energy of a challenging text brought viscerally to life. Small Boat is a gripping portrait of a woman struggling to deflect guilt, deny responsibility and maintain that these deaths - this journey - was not her idea. But every so often her argument collapses in on itself and we glimpse an internal chasm of doubt and fear. Lydia Wilson gives a superb performance, moving between demotic bluster and brittle sarcasm with devastating moments of guileless indifference, whilst all the time shame gnaws at her soul.

Small Boat was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 . It was originally published in 2023 in French by Gallimard as "Naufrage".

Read by Lydia Wilson and Tommy Sim’aan (episodes 5 and 6)

Written by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson

Abridged and directed by Jill Waters

The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8byt)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002n0sg)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament