SATURDAY 27 DECEMBER 2025
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002nv0f)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:15 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (m00269bv)
A Winter Leveret
Raising Hare is Chloe Dalton’s memoir of caring for an abandoned leveret – and how the bond that grows between them changes her perspective on life.
Lockdown leads Chloe away from her demanding London job as a political advisor and back to the countryside of her childhood, where she stumbles across a lone baby hare - defenceless on an open country road. Against her better judgment, she feels compelled to take the tiny creature in and give it a chance at survival.
In the weeks and months that follow, a bond grows between hare and human as Chloe cares for the animal and prepares for it to return to the wild - the outcome she had always planned. The story grants us a rare insight into the lives of these elusive creatures, once thriving in the UK and now increasingly dwindling as their habitats recede and man-made threats advance.
In this first episode, Dalton discovers the tiny creature that will set her life on a different course. Offering it a makeshift nest in her spare room and muddling through bottle feeds with kitten formula, she shelters the leveret as it grows.
Read by Lisa Faulkner
Produced and abridged by Jo Rowntree and Heather Dempsey
Sound Design by Dan King
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Illustration by Denise Nestor
This is an EcoAudio certified production.
SAT 00:30 Around the Table by Diana Henry (m002ntzb)
5. Truffle hunting and returning home
Diana Henry, the well-loved food writer reads from her essay collection. Today, in Italy and Vermont nature's bounty is evoked, and Diana returns to her childhood and reflects on culinary curiosity and memories.
Around the Table is a collection of Diana Henry's very best essays which span her career in food. Over five episodes we travel the world in her company and delight in the ingredients, the produce, the cooks and chefs that have gone on to shape her life and her cooking.
Diana takes us from the bustling Turkish groceries of the Edgware Road which defined her twenties; to kitchen tables in France where she learned how to make the perfect vinaigrette during her teenage years; to a trattoria tucked away in the suburbs of Rome; to the chilly Vermont countryside famed for its maple syrup. Lastly, we travel back to her homeland in Northern Ireland where she reflects on her mum's culinary skills and her dad's culinary curiosity.
Diana's vivid writing reminds us of the joy to be found in good food, from the humble apple, to rose ice-cream, to truffles and to pasta.
Diana Henry has regular columns in the press, and is the author of twelve books including Salt, Sugar, Smoke, A Change of Appetite and From the Oven to the Table. Before becoming a food writer, Diana was a TV producer.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer Elizabeth Allard
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nv0h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nv0k)
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 (m002nv0m)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nv0p)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nv0r)
Three French Hens?
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good Morning. Today is officially the 3rd day of Christmas and according to the popular carol, (the 12 days of Christmas) our gift today would be three French hens.
I always wondered as a child who would want all these birds flapping about in their house for Christmas, but of course, they are more symbolic than realistic. There are various suggestions of what the 3 hens might mean. One interpretation is the hens represent the gifts given to Jesus by the Magi - gold to display his kingship, frankincense symbolised his divinity and myrrh foreshadowed his death.
A different translation of The 12 Days of Christmas dating back to 1864 instead described the French hens as ‘fat hens’ as they were considered to be an excellent start to a period of feasting! But assuming you, like me, have eaten enough turkey and ham to last you at least to the end of 2025, you might prefer the most common interpretation of the 3 hens - that they represent the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love.
For so many of us Christmas is hectic and exhausting. After buying all the gifts, mastering the mince pie recipe, perfecting the Christmas tree art and cooking a lot of Brussels sprouts it’s hard to want to share faith, hope and love with others. We often squeeze in catching up with every family member when really the desire to be back relaxing in our own homes is very strong! But, maybe this Christmas we could adjust our priorities.
Gracious Lord, With sincere faith we thank you for the blessing of Jesus being born to this world.
Help us share our hope in the confidence of reuniting one day with the Risen Christ.
And finally help us share love, with patience, kindness and humility to all around us.
Amen
SAT 05:45 You're Dead to Me (m002ntzl)
Dead Funny History
History of Football
Dead Funny History: History of Football.
Join historian Greg Jenner for a funny and fascinating journey through the History of Football. A laugh-out-loud episode of Dead Funny History, the family podcast that brings the past back to life.
From medieval madness to the modern game
Football might be the world’s favourite sport today, but its early days were anything but beautiful. Greg takes us back to medieval Britain, when football was a chaotic town-wide scramble played on Pancake Day, complete with hundreds of players, broken windows and absolutely no referee in sight.
Kings, chaos … and the rules of the game
We meet monks who first wrote about the sport and kings who tried (and failed) to ban it. Then, in the 1800s, posh public-school students invented their own versions, and their many arguments eventually gave us both football and rugby.
Enter the gloriously named Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the man who helped create the Football Association and the rulebook that changed the game forever.
The women who made football their own
Greg also features the brilliant women who played, led and loved football long before it was accepted. There’s Nettie Honeyball, who founded the British Ladies’ Football Club, and Lily Parr, the teenage superstar striker of the Dick, Kerr Ladies, famous for her unstoppable shot and trailblazing spirit.
Even when the FA banned women’s matches in 1921, these pioneers kept playing, paving the way for today’s Lionesses.
History meets hilarity
With jokes, sketches and sound effects galore, from “Vatican VAR” to medieval mob matches, Greg Jenner and the Dead Funny History team bring the story of football roaring to life. It’s packed with fun facts, silly moments and quick-fire quizzes that make learning irresistible for children, families and football fans alike.
The perfect family listen
If you’ve ever wondered how football began, why kings banned it, or how women’s teams made sporting history, this episode delivers a clever mix of comedy and education.
Funny, factual and full of heart, Dead Funny History: The History of Football is history with extra time and plenty of laughs.
Host: Greg Jenner
Writers: Jack Bernhardt, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Dr Emma Nagouse
Performers: Mali Ann Rees and John Luke-Roberts
Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse
Associate Producer: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Audio Producer: Emma Weatherill
Script Consultant: Professor Jean Williams
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Production Manager: Jo Kyle
Studio Managers: Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt
Sound Designer: Peregrine Andrews
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002nv6s)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002ntq6)
His Majesty The King
In this special edition of This Natural Life, His Majesty The King tells Martha Kearney about his lifelong passion for nature and the environment. As they walk together through the walled garden at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, the King reflects on how his love of the natural world began in childhood and discusses topics ranging from school farms and marine conservation to the art of topiary and the joy of secateurs. Martha also talks to young people and tutors on educational schemes based at the two thousand acre estate, which is owned by the King’s Foundation.
Photo courtesy of the King's Foundation
Producer: Emma Campbell
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002nv6v)
27/12/26: Anna Hill's 30 years on Farming Today
This year, Anna Hill marked her 30th anniversary as a presenter of Farming Today. Talking to her fellow presenter Charlotte Smith, Anna reflects on three decades of reporting on farming life, from Mad Cow Disease and Foot and Mouth to the lighter side of life on farms and her love of rural East Anglia.
Produced by Beatrice Fenton and Chris Ledgard for BBC Audio Bristol
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002nv6x)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002nv6z)
Cate Blanchett Guest Edits Today
Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett is the third Today guest editor this Christmas.
SAT 09:00 Soul Music (m002nv71)
Soul Music at 25
This hour long special celebrates a quarter of a century of the programme and charts the course of a human life through pieces of music.
Cerys Matthews introduces a compilation of some of the diverse pieces of music we've featured throughout the years - together with stories of the people whose lives have been changed by it. Everything from Satie's Gymnopedies and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending to Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell and Computer Love by Kraftwerk.
Stories of birth, childhood, adolescence, as well as the griefs and joys of adulthood are expressed through the music that shapes and sustains us through the emotional ups and downs of our lives' journeys.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SAT 10:00 Curious Cases (m002nv73)
Series 24
Frosty Fractals
One winter morning, listener Jane opened her curtains to find her car roof covered in breathtaking, fern-like frost so intricate it looked like a William Morris print. But how does something as ordinary as ice create patterns so beautifully complex?
Hannah and Dara explore this crunchy, slippery, delicately patterned branch of chemistry to uncover the rules and mysteries that govern the extra-ordinary world of ice. Why does ice come in so many shapes and sizes? And does all ice form at 0 degrees Celsius? Is every snowflake truly unique? We have questions a plenty for our eager chemists, who, as all good chemists do, have a few demonstrations up their sleeves to help explain.
And we explore nature’s hidden geometry to find why these frost ferns follow the same rules as lightning bolts, river deltas and even human lungs.
You can send your everyday mysteries for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Contributors
Sarah Hart – Professor Emerita of Mathematics, Birkbeck University of London
Christoph Salzmann – Professor of Physical and Materials Chemistry, UCL
Dr Thomas Whale – Lecturer, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds
Producer: Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 10:30 Unspeakable (m002nrvx)
Christmas Special 2025
Phil Wang and Susie Dent challenge guests to invent new festive words to enter the dictionary. With special guests Matt Lucas, Nick Mohammed and Sara Pascoe.
In the 2025 Christmas special, we hear Matt Lucas' new word for a crucial moment during Christmas Dinner, Nick Mohammed - fresh from Celebrity Traitors - coins a new word for your neighbour who goes all out with the decorations, and Sara Pascoe creates a word for when you have to put on a brave face through the festive season.
Have you ever struggled to find the right word for a feeling or sensation? Unspeakable sees comedian Phil Wang and lexicographer Susie Dent invite celebrity guests to invent new linguistic creations, to solve those all too relatable moments when we're lost for words.
Hosts: Phil Wang and Susie Dent
Guests: Matt Lucas, Nick Mohammed and Sara Pascoe
Created by Joe Varley
Writers: Matt Crosby and Katie Storey
Recorded by Jerry Peal
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Joe Varley and Akash Lockmun
A Brown Bred production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 How to Play (m002ntqr)
The Snowman by Howard Blake
Eavesdropping on rehearsals for a special screening of the beloved Christmas animation, as musicians prepare to perform the soundtrack live with its hit song, Walking in the Air.
Every winter, the Carrot Productions orchestra comes together to create a big-screen version of one of Britain’s most iconic Christmas-television treats: The Snowman. Ambitions are high and the pressure is on as the rehearsal date arrives. In just a few hours, they will be taking their show on the road and bringing it to eager audiences across the country. The players have just one morning to transform themselves into a cohesive ensemble and bring the complex musical score to life. If that wasn’t enough, there’s the added challenge of synchronising their performance to the live animated pictures!
We are invited inside their rehearsal space to witness the magical process of turning musical notes on a page into a story that breathes and soars. Leading the way is conductor, George Morton, who shows us how he homes in on key moments to fix problems and finesse the drama. The players give us a musicians-eye view of their experiences on stage and we hear from the young soloist who is stepping up to sing the famous Christmas hit at the centre of the story, “Walking in the Air”.
Producer: Chris Taylor for BBC Audio Wales
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002nv46)
Iran's hijab protests
Kate Adie presents stories from Iran, Norway, France, Ireland and Switzerland.
A recent marathon race in Iran caused controversy after many of the 2000 women runners ignored the country's mandatory hijab law, and ran without a head covering. Years after deadly protests rocked the country, Faranak Amidi charts how women in Iran today are continuing to defy the religious authorities on a daily basis.
Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean is home to an array of wildlife, including Polar Bears. With their survival under threat, Beth Timmins considers their future - and past - while sailing off the bay of Skansbukta.
The French have a penchant for chestnuts, and demand in the country often vastly outstrips supply. And in the chestnut groves of the Cévennes, intensifying droughts are pushing the crop to the brink. Julius Purcell met chestnut farmers keeping a centuries-old culture alive, in the face of a warming planet.
Irish pubs may be one of the Emerald Isle’s most ubiquitous exports, but Irish whiskey has dipped in popularity over the last century in part due to politics - but also increased competition. Jordan Dunbar has been following the fate of his homeland’s much-loved liquor, ever since a surprise encounter in Japan.
And finally, Switzerland is famously neutral - but what that neutrality means is a subject that preoccupies the Swiss. Everyone knows that the Swiss banked Germany's money during the second world war, but a new exhibition shows how cooperative Switzerland also was to the allies. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002nv75)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002nv44)
Can You Make a Creative Job Pay?
The creative industries add around £124 billion to the UK economy according to government figures, but for actors, painters, or even influencers, making it pay can seem impossible.
The actor Christopher Biggins joins the programme to share how he's managed to work in the arts for more than 50 years as well as exactly what you can earn from Christmas Panto.
We'll also discuss how there's more than just booking the gig, people should also consider setting money aside to pay taxes and think about paying into a pension.
Plus we'll hear from an illustrator, content creator and a theatre group working to improve access to the arts through 'pay what you can' classes.
Felicity Hannah is joined by Jack Gamble, Director at Campaign for the Arts and Vicks Rodwell, Managing Director at The Self-Employment Association, IPSE.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(This episode was first broadcast on Saturday the 27th of December 2025)
Photo Credit: Simon Hadley
SAT 12:30 The Matt Forde Focus Group (m002nrvb)
Boxing Day Special
Top political comedian Matt Forde reconvenes his Focus Group for a Boxing Day special with a Dickensian twist.
Recorded in front of a live audience, Matt is joined by journalist Miranda Green, comedian Pierre Novellie and former Cabinet Minister Michael Gove – to review the political state we're in through the lens of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Expect sharp analysis, unexpected confessions, and the year's biggest stories getting visited by the Ghosts of Politics Past, Present and Yet to Come.
It's topical comedy that's both genuinely funny and surprisingly insightful – perfect for digesting with the leftover turkey.
Written and performed by Matt Forde
Additional writing from Karl Minns, Laura Claxton and Richard Garvin
Producer: Richard Garvin
Executive Producers Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
Co-Producers: Daisy Knight and Jules Lom
Broadcast Assistant: Sahar Rajabali
Sound Design and Editing: David Thomas
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002nv77)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002nv79)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 A Carnival of Animals (m002kfmd)
The Golden Mole
In this episode acclaimed writer Katherine Rundell introduces us to the golden mole - a creature so rare in its beauty, it seems almost mythical. Iridescent fur, shifting through black, silver, turquoise and gold, makes it one of the few mammals to glow.
Golden moles are miniature powerhouses. Their kidneys are so efficient that many species never need to drink water. Their hearing is extraordinary: the bone in their middle ear is so large and sensitive that they can detect the vibrations of insects moving above them. There are twenty-one known species, all found in sub-Saharan Africa - and more than half are threatened with extinction due to pollution and habitat loss.
Perhaps the greatest mystery is why they shine. Unlike butterflies or hummingbirds, which use iridescence to communicate or attract mates, the golden mole is blind and lives almost entirely underground. Scientists believe its shimmering fur evolved for low-friction burrowing - the glow is a by-product, not a signal. They burrow, breed and hunt, unaware of their brilliance -unknowingly shining.
Written and Presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol
SAT 13:15 Illuminated (m002cckx)
Doctor Dolittle and the Exploding Trout
It's the glorious summer of 1966 and Hollywood has taken over England’s prettiest village. The residents of Castle Combe have made way for the cast and crew of the biggest budget musical of the decade- Doctor Dolittle.
Where sheep once grazed there are two-headed llamas, talking macaws, singing chimps and enormous catering trucks. Propping up the bar at the local pub are hot actors Anthony Newley, Richard Attenborough and one of the biggest stars of the day- the man who talks to the animals- Rex Harrison.
Locals are divided about the pros and cons of the Hollywood invasion but one thing they’re all annoyed about is the destruction of the local trout stream, dammed to create a lake for filming. Native fish and plants are gone, replaced by movie props and trained ducks.
Four young chaps decide to make their feelings clear. For three of them that means fireworks and noisy protests but ring leader, Ranulph Fiennes, intends to take things a little further. He’s just joined the SAS, the crack Army regiment that gives him access to high explosives- more than enough to blow the dam sky high.
Environmental historian and broadcaster, Eleanor Barraclough gathers together the protagonists to publicly share their stories of the Dolittle affair for the first time.
Producers: Alasdair Cross of BBC Audio Wales and West and Matt Dyas for Good Productions
SAT 13:45 Ghost Stories for Christmas with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (m002nyqb)
This special concert from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karen Ní Bhroin, combines some spooky ghost stories for Christmas with a suite of wonderful music bringing the whole show together into an atmospheric listening treat.
The orchestra is joined on stage by Alex Jennings CBE (The Crown, Wolf Hall, The Lady In The Van) and Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, F1, The Fantastic Four) to read from some spine-chilling stories from classic and contemporary authors. It's not all scary stuff though, with a wry take on ghostly behaviour from the likes of Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens and contemporary stories from the UK and USA.
The music selection is just as varied with Vivaldi, Adolphus Hailstork and a big finish with a special arrangement of Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters, sung by Jonathan Andrew Hume, straight from the West End cast of Hamilton.
Let the music and your imagination take you away from it all in this very special hour of spectral entertainment.
Readings:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Our Bones Were The Mortar by Anjali Patel
The Hitcher by Tony Walker
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
Music:
Alan Silvestri (Orch. Lior Rosner) - Marley's Ghost
Adolphus Hailstork - Kum ba ya (Spiritual No2) from Three Spirituals for Orchestra
Antonio Vivaldi - Winter from 'The Four Seasons'
Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters
Readers:
Alex Jennings
Sarah Niles
Singer:
Jonathan Andrew Hume
Violin:
Igor Yuzefovich
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karen Ní Bhroin
Concert produced by Steve Doherty and Paul Hughes
For the Orchestra: Emma Gait, Bill Chandler and Ann McKay
Technical Presentation: Rob Winter
A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 14:40 A Carnival of Animals (m002krl5)
The Owl
In this episode, writer Katherine Rundell explores the fascinating world of owls. She shares surprising stories, including how Picasso kept an owl that appeared in many of his artworks and even looked a little like him. Rundell explains how owls are incredibly well-designed predators—some, like the Eurasian eagle owl, are powerful enough to carry off a baby roe deer.
The programme also looks at owl behaviour and intelligence. Not all owls hoot; some make unexpected sounds, including beeping like a reversing truck. While they don’t use tools like crows, owls do decorate their nests and have strong memories. Rundell discusses how these traits contribute to their reputation for wisdom, and reflects on how that idea has evolved over time.
But the episode also highlights the threats owls face. Around 30% of owl species are either extinct or at risk, including the Laughing Owl, which has already been lost. Rundell ends with a warning, quoting philosopher Hegel: “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the coming of dusk.” It’s a reminder that wisdom often comes too late—and that action is needed now to protect these remarkable birds.
Presented and written by Katherine Rundell
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol.
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002ntzz)
George cycles up to Bridge Farm, asking Pat if they’ve got any work going. She puts him off, saying she’ll let him know if they need someone. Tony then joins Pat, ready to take some winter bedding over to Meadow Farm. On his way back George has a barbed exchange with Hannah, swapping insults over who has the sadder life, before Hannah gets upset and goes. Later at The Bull, Hannah talks through with Fallon what just happened. Hannah knows she shouldn’t have risen to George’s bait, but Fallon reckons it’s like George is on a mission to rile everyone. They agree someone should talk to George – but not Harrison. Fallon then knocks at George’s door, telling him forcefully he needs to leave them all alone, including Hannah. George tries brazening it out, but underneath it’s clear Fallon has rattled him.
Pat and Tony find Esme in the yard at Meadow Farm, in the middle of clearing out a storage barn. She’s stunned when they tell her they’ve been collecting spare bales of winter bedding for her, from local farmers. When she offers them money they refuse, telling her it’s a gift from the farming community. Esme then lays out a thank you tea for them. She’s so grateful for all the help she’s had from everyone. Pat and Tony encourage Esme to contact the land agent about the tenancy, now the likes of Josh are showing interest, before sharing thoughts on coping with bereavement and how time is the best healer.
SAT 15:00 Spotlight (m002nv7c)
Murder in the Cathedral
Danny Sapani stars in T S Eliot's 1935 verse drama about the murder and martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170.
Thomas Becket.....Danny Sapani
The Chorus.....Kirsty Oswald, Sasha McCabe and Maggie Steed
The Priests.....Chris Lew Kum Hoi and Clive Hayward
The Fourth Tempter.....Jasmine Hyde
The Messenger.....Django Bevan
The Four Knights.....Matthew Gravelle, Silas Carson, Joseph Ayre and Philippe Spall.
Music composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the BBC Singers, with percussionist Louise Anna Duggan.
Production co-ordinators Eleri Sydney McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound design....Catherine Robinson and Rhys Morris
A BBC Audio Wales production, adapted and directed by Emma Harding
Danny Sapani's extensive theatre work includes Jason in Medea opposite Helen McCrory (National Theatre) and Brutus in Julius Caesar (Globe Theatre) and the title role in Out of Joint’s Macbeth. His film work includes Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Black Panther; television credits include Penny Dreadful, The Crown and Killing Eve.
SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002nv7f)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Rituals, 250th anniversary of Jane Austen, Women and the dark
On Woman’s Hour Christmas Day programme, Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani discussed the rituals and traditions that we do at Christmas. Some passed down across the generations and some adapted through in-laws or friends. With a recent YouGov poll saying that 89% of Brits celebrate Christmas and most of the preparation and work that goes into this festive season is done by women, what role do women play in the making and maintaining of these rituals? Nuala and Anita find out about the importance of nostalgia and why we love to do the same thing year after year. Dr Audrey Tang, author and a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society, explains the importance of the rituals we do and why we do them.
Woman’s Hour celebrates the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Her novels have been translated into almost every major language and there are societies of Austen lovers and scholars in every corner of the globe, from Australia to Argentina and Iran to Italy. To tell us why Austen still captivates readers in their parts of the world, Nuala McGovern was joined by Laaleen Sukhera, founder of the Jane Austen Society of Pakistan and the founding member of the Austen Society of Japan, and researcher at the University of Southampton, Dr. Hatsuyo Shimazaki.
We've just had the shortest day of the year, and the most amount of darkness. But how do women live their lives in the dark today? You might have to work at night, or find it the best time to be productive. Or you might harness darkness as a time to think and meditate. Anita Rani speaks to two people who have considered the pros and cons of darkness in very different ways. Lucy Edwards is a Blind Broadcaster, Journalist, Author, Content Creator and Disability Activist. Arifa Akbar is theatre critic for the Guardian whose investigations into the dark formed her book, Wolf Moon.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells
SAT 17:00 PM (m002nv7h)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Ramblings (m002d1c5)
Living on the Camino de Santiago
Clare meets a man who completely changed his life after walking the Camino de Santiago. Andrea Abbatemarco is originally from Milan, and first completed The Way in 2005 in memory of a friend who died a year earlier in the Indian Ocean tsunami. A few years later, he walked it again with his girlfriend and just a matter of months after returning to Italy, they packed up their lives, bought a house along the Camino, and now run a hostel for pilgrims.
The Camino de Santiago is a network of footpaths that run across western Europe, all converging upon the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. One of these trails is the Sanabrés which begins in Granja de Moreruela and stretches for around 225 miles to Santiago de Compostela.
Clare met Andrea on the Sanabrés, around 30km out of Santiago where he runs Casa Leiras, an Albergue, or hostel, specifically designed for Camino pilgrims.
Joining them is Manni Coe, a guide who leads walks on the Sanabrés, who's known Andrea for years. Manni also featured in episode one of this series which is entirely themed around the Camino.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002nv7k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002nv7m)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv7p)
Scotland's biggest hospital suspends mortuary staff
A full NHS investigation is under way after Scotland's biggest hospital released the wrong body for a cremation. The mistake was made by mortuary staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. They have been suspended. The error involved incorrect labelling. It emerged only after the funeral service and cremation had taken plac
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002nv1s)
Maisie Adam; Elizabeth Alker; Jing Lusi; Stuart Maconie; Thea Gilmore; Singing In the Rain
There's plenty of festive energy left with Stuart Maconie and guests in the Loose Ends twixtmas studio:
Taskmaster champion Maisie Adams tells us how she got in touch with her previously hidden competition-demon on the show, her highly-flammable competition outfit and that nailbiting finish, as well as revving up for a new tour in 2026.
ITV's hit drama Red Eye is back for a second season on New Year's Day and its star Jing Lusi tells us about reprising her role as the kickboxing DI Hanna Li. She thinks DI Li would not approve of her penchant for Romcoms and fitness avoidance.
And Radio 3's Elizabeth Alker outlines how rock and pop musicians from The Beatles to Radiohead to Manic Street Preachers owe a debt to classical music with tales from her new book Everything We Do Is Music. She also has tales of her rockstar Yorkshire terrier Terry who rules the roost at her house in December and well, all year round really.
Plus inspiring music for the turning of the year from Thea Gilmore and from Carly Mercedes Dyer singing You Are My Lucky Star from the musical Singing in the Rain.
Producer: Olive Clancy
Assistant producer: Sam Nixon
Technical producers: John Cole & John Benton
Production coordinator: Pete Liggins
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002nv39)
Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby, the British man walking around the world, is almost home. The former paratrooper set off from Chile in 1998. He walked through the Americas, crossed the frozen ocean from Alaska to Russia, and last year became the first person to swim the Caspian Sea between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. These are all huge achievements in their own right but for Bushby they were just sections he had to complete to finish his epic journey.
Originally scheduled to finish in 2006, Bushby is now 56 and still going. Geopolitics has played its part, with Russian and Iranian visa rejections some of the main causes of delay.
He arrived in Budapest last month and with the English Channel being the only obvious remaining obstacle to navigate, he should be back in Humberside by this time next year.
Stephen Smith finds out who he is and what's kept him going for so long.
Contributors
Jonny Beardsall - Journalist and milliner
Keith Bushby - Dad
Genevieve Gil - Friend
Dimitri Kieffer - Crossed the Bering Strait with Bushby
Angela Maxwell - Swam the Caspian Sea with Bushby
Art Mortvedt - Friend
Damaris Mortvedt - Friend
Kevin Shoesmith - Journalist
Production
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Ben Crighton, Alex Loftus and Mhairi MacKenzie
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Nick Holland
Sound: Gareth Jones
SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m002kjvk)
Series 34
The North Pole Unwrapped - Russell Kane, Felicity Aston and Lloyd Peck
In this Christmas episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage, Brian Cox and Robin Ince head to the North Pole to explore the dazzling science behind the northern lights, the extreme adaptations that help animals - and even Santa Claus - survive the Arctic cold, and how the Earth’s magnetic field might just guide him home. Joining the monkeys are comedian Russell Kane, Arctic explorer Felicity Aston and Polar biologist Lloyd Peck, as they brave the chill to uncover the wonders of one of Earth’s most remote and magical frontiers.
Series Producer: Mel Brown
Researcher: Alex Rodway
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002nv0t)
How the Muppet Show Began in Britain
Before it became a global sensation, The Muppet Show was a British gamble. In this lively and affectionate documentary, Louise Gold – who played Annie Sue Pig – celebrates the show’s anarchic birth in Britain in the mid-1970s. Rejected by American networks, Jim Henson’s puppet troupe found a champion in ATV boss Lew Grade, who backed the series and gave it a home at Elstree Studios.
Broadcast on ITV Sunday nights, The Muppet Show was an overnight hit. Its surreal humour and chaotic brilliance won over British audiences instantly. Louise Gold, the show’s first British female puppeteer, guides us through its early days, sharing how she landed her job, how the famous opening sequence was put together, and revisiting the creative process behind some of the show’s most famous sketches – from the Swedish Chef and Veterinary Hospital to Pigs in Space.
We hear from floor manager Richard Holloway, art director Malcolm Stone, cameraman Jeremy Hoare, and the series’ first production secretary Anthea Buxton, alongside Jim Henson’s daughter Cheryl Henson, who recalls working in the Muppet workshop as a teenager. Archive contributions include writer Joe Bailey and Emilio Delgado – Luis from Sesame Street.
Guest stars Twiggy, Petula Clark, and Judy Collins reflect on their time in the spotlight, while TV supremo Michael Grade – nephew of Lew – and Muppet legend Dave Goelz, still the voice of Gonzo, Bunsen Honeydew, and Waldorf, add their memories.
The Muppets’ anarchic antics didn’t just entertain – they reshaped British children’s television. We meet Hartley Hare and Nigel Paskin, who filmed Pipkins next door, and Ronnie Le Drew, who voices Zippy and George from Rainbow. Both Nigel and Ronnie would go on to work with the Jim Henson Company.
Producer: Ashley Byrne
A Made in Manchester Production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m002ntn9)
What Is Truth?
What is truth? In a special edition of The Moral Maze, we discuss perhaps the most significant question in all of human thought. It sits at the foundation of how we understand reality, and how we communicate and behave towards one another.
The obvious answer is that the strongest possible way to arrive at the truth in a shifting world of AI and authoritarian control is through a commitment to empirical data and provable facts. However, this can only ever get us so far because truth is always told from somewhere. Even objective facts can be curated from one perspective. Stories about ourselves and the world have been necessary, alongside partial data, to keep the social order and to prevent us from being overwhelmed. The historian uses limited sources to tell a story about our past. Language constrains how we articulate who we are, what we do and how we think and feel. Where science falters in expanding the horizons of truth, artists and theologians step in with their own insights that truth can be discovered through poetry and mysticism. That’s before the postmodernists come along and state that what we think of as truth is constructed rather than discovered; that the ‘truth’ we seek doesn’t really exist; that it’s all a fiction to give our lives meaning and purpose.
Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Mona Siddiqui, Giles Fraser, Anne McElvoy and Ash Sarkar
Witnesses: Charlie Beckett, Fay Bound-Alberti, Mark Vernon and Hilary Lawson
Producer: Dan Tierney.
SAT 22:00 News (m002nv7r)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002ntz8)
A Life Through Drink: Dave Broom
Whisky writer Dave Broom has helped transform how the world tastes and talks about spirits, bringing flavour, culture, and meaning to a new generation. In this festive edition of the programme, Jaega Wise finds out how his ideas and passions came about, and what has made him one of the most influential voices in the drinks world.
Born in Glasgow, Dave Broom began his career in the industry with a job at the wine merchants OddBins. He later ran a pub in Bristol before moving into writing about spirits for the trade media. Since then, he’s written 15 books on whisky and other spirits. His writing is known for drawing people into the world of flavour through music and food references, and through connections to place. As well as writing about Scotch, he has also long explored whiskies and spirits from around the world - and was an early advocate for Japanese whiskies.
In June 2019 Dave Broom presented a crowd-funded documentary film called The Amber Light, which took him across Scotland, meeting distillers, musicians, and writers, and exploring the idea that whisky reflects the place it comes from. The film was directed and produced by Adam Parks.
Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
SAT 23:00 Time of the Week (m002nv7t)
Series 2
2. 81st Anniversary Special
Chloe Slack presents an Anniversary Special celebrating 81 years of Time Of The Week alongside former host Ruth Paul (special guest Ellie White). Plus: items on Tall Sons, viral dances and we answer the question ‘Do women feel storms more than men?’
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
Ruth Paul - Ellie White
Ensemble cast:
Ada Player
Alice Cockayne
Aruhan Galieva
Ayoade Bamgboye
Caroline Elms
Em Prendergast
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Mofé Akàndé
Created by Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield
Writing team:
Alice Cockayne
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Priya Hall
Will Hughes
Script Editors - Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield
Photographer - Will Hearle
Producer - Ben Walker
A DLT Entertainment Production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:30 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023zjg)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity
9 – From Ipswich Town to Nessie
Susie Dent joins Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis in a wide-ranging and utterly tenuous route between Ipswich Town and the Loch Ness monster, via the Dromedary camel and the Berlin Wall.
This warm and witty podcast celebrates new and half-remembered trivia in a bid to link random places, people and things. Across the series, Steve and Hugh are 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 - on a bid to travel from “beer” to “eternity”.
Written and hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
With Susie Dent
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
Recorded at Maple St Creative
Mixed by Jonathan Last
A Listen production for BBC Radio 4
SUNDAY 28 DECEMBER 2025
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002nv7w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 Bookclub (m002njwj)
Emma Thompson: Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility
The award-winning actress Emma Thompson takes questions on Sense and Sensibility in this special episode of Bookclub to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. Sense and Sensibility was Jane Austen's first novel published in 1811 when she was thirty-five years old. The book follows the Dashwood sisters as they navigate their way through love and and threat of its loss. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment.
Emma Thompson won an Oscar for her screen adaptation of the 1995 film, of the same name, in which she played Elinor Dashwood. The film also starred Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood, Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars, Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon, and Greg Wise as John Willoughby.
This episode was recorded at Broadcasting House, London, in August.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nv7y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nv80)
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 (m002nv82)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nv84)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002nv4d)
The church of St Bartholomew Haslemere in Surrey
Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St Bartholomew Haslemere in Surrey. The church was substantially rebuilt in 1871 but retained its 13th century west tower. Today the tower houses a ring of ten bells all cast by John Taylor of Loughborough in the 1920’s, the lightest two of which commemorate Alfred Lord Tennyson and are engraved with words from his poem ‘Ring out Wild Bells’. The Tenor weighs thirteen hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F sharp. We hear them ringing Stedman Caters
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002nttm)
Stardom Within Touch
In Touch talks to three visually impaired rising stars of show business. Betsy Griffin does many things: she writes music and sings, but her main goal is to become a radio host, where she has already presented on In Touch and a BBC Three Counties Radio show. Eleanor Stollery began performing with the National Theatre in her role of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, and she is now involved with delivering live audio description for theatre performances. Bonnie O'Mera is the star of Maddie + Triggs, a children's TV programme that puts visual impairment at its heart. The three discuss their careers so far and their experiences of working in showbiz with their visual impairments.
A very Merry Christmas from the In Touch team:
Presenter, Peter White
Producer, Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator, Kim Agostino
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 (m002nv2j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m002ntsd)
Christmas through the eyes of a convert
Giles Fraser examines Christmas through the eyes of the convert talking to two people about how changing faiths affected how they experienced Christmas.
He’s joined by Jennifer Ogenyemi who describes how converting to Islam from Christianity changed her life at this time of year and how she helps other converts navigate the season.
Rev David Reed talks about his conversion from atheism to Christianity and how it gave new meaning to Christmas
They're joined by Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Philospher Julian Baggini about the bridges and divides caused by belief at this time of year.
Presenter: Giles Fraser
Producer: Catherine Murray
Asst Producer: Charlie Filmer- Court
Production Co-ordinator Ned Stone
Editor: Chloe Walker
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002nv2l)
Egg Entrepreneur
St Ewe Free Range Eggs are stocked by major supermarkets and the business has been named in the Sunday Times list of the 100 fastest growing private companies in the UK. Bex Tonks is its CEO although she says she's 'just a farmer really'. St Ewe began as a means of boosting the income of the Tonks family's small Cornish dairy farm. The business began to take off when they started to pack their own eggs in a converted cattle shed on the farm. Supermarket contracts followed and in 2022 a state of the art packing facility opened a few miles away. Bex takes Sarah Swadling through the high tech process of getting millions of eggs a week from 56 suppliers farms, and their own farm, to the shops. They also discuss how the current Avian Influenza situation is affecting free range egg producers in England, as they've been ordered to keep birds housed until the heightened winter disease risk passes. Bex says Avian Flu is a business risk for the whole industry, whether egg producers or egg packers, but that it's important to stay confident.
Produced and Presented by Sarah Swadling
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002nv2n)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002nv2q)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002nv2s)
Christmas Carol Composers; Jimmy Lai; Muslim Theatre
Of all living composers, perhaps none are more closely associated with the sound of Christmas than John Rutter and Bob Chilcott. Earlier this year, both marked milestone birthdays - Rutter turned 80 and Chilcott 70. A few days before Christmas, we caught up with them to talk about carols, choirs, and the enduring magic of the season.
Jimmy Lai is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent critics of the Beijing government: a media tycoon, democracy campaigner, and a Roman Catholic. The 78-year-old British citizen has been in prison since December 2020 and is now, after last week's guilty verdicts, facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. In her first interview with UK media, his daughter Claire Lai, tells the BBC's Danny Vincent she fears her father may become a martyr.
'Before The Millennium'- a Christmas production by Karim Khan. It's set in a Woolworths store in 1999, the year Ramadan and the Christmas season coincided. It explores the friendship between two migrant women during the festive season. Muslim writers and performers like Karim are telling stories of faith, friendship and everyday life as British Muslims, and fringe theatre has become an increasingly important platform for them.
Presenter: Emily Buchanan
Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Catherine Murray
Studio Managers: Mike Smith & Patrick Shaw
Editor: Tim Pemberton
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002nv1d)
Snow Camp
Olympian, Chemmy Alcott, makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Snow Camp.
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 ‘Snow Camp’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Snow Camp’.
- 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: 1101030. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.snow-camp.org.uk/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Anna Bailey
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002nv2v)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002nv2x)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002nv2z)
What Sweeter Music
The singing of carols enables us all to express our joy and our gladness, and very often ancient words are given new life by being set to new music. On the First Sunday after Christmas, Sunday Worship celebrates two of the most well-known choral composers of our age, whose music is sung in churches, chapels and cathedrals and expresses, for many, the sound of Christmas. John Rutter, celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year, and Bob Chilcott his 70th. In today’s service, we hear the Christmas story again through the words of scripture and through arrangements and original works by John Rutter and Bob Chilcott, and hear their reflections on their life in music.
The service is led by the Dean of St John’s College, Cambridge, Revd Dr Victoria Johnson together with the Chaplain, Revd Graham Dunn, and members of the college community. The producer is Andrew Earis.
Music and readings
Angel’s Carol – John Rutter
Cambridge Singers
CD: The Very Best of John Rutter (Decca)
Joy to the World arr. John Rutter
Cambridge Singers
CD: The John Rutter Christmas Album (Collegium)
Reading: Isaiah 9.2, 6-7
Music: There is a flower – John Rutter
Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
CD: O Holy Night (Signum)
Reading: Luke
1.30–31, 34–35, 38
Hymn from ‘Mary, Mother’ – Bob Chilcott
St Martin’s Voices
CD: A Winter Breviary – Choral Works for Christmas (Resonus)
Reading: Luke 2.1, 3-7
Nativity Carol – John Rutter
Cambridge Singers
CD: The John Rutter Christmas Album (Collegium)
Reading: Luke 2.8-9, 15-16
The Shepherd’s Carol – Bob Chilcott
Tenebrae
CD: In Winter’s House (Signum)
Matthew 2.8-11
What Sweeter Music - John Rutter
Cambridge Singers
CD: The Very Best of John Rutter (Decca)
Reading: John 1.1, 4-5, 14
Ding-Dong! Ding! (from ‘Little Jazz Carols’) – Bob Chilcott
St Martin’s Voices
CD: Little Jazz Carols – Bob Chilcott (St Martin’s Voices)
Mary’s Lullaby – John Rutter
Wayne Marshall (piano)
CD: John Rutter – The Piano Collection
Joy to the World arr. John Rutter (final verse)
Cambridge Singers
CD: The John Rutter Christmas Album (Collegium)
SUN 08:48 Witness History (w3ct74kb)
When Laurel and Hardy spent Christmas at an English pub
In December 1953, Hollywood film stars Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spent a few weeks at the Bull Inn, Bottesford, Leicestershire, while they performed a show at the nearby Nottingham Empire.
Stan’s sister, Olga Healey, was the landlady.
Customers and staff said the duo spent time serving behind the bar, signing autographs and chatting with regulars.
This was produced and presented by Rachel Naylor, in collaboration with BBC Archives.
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: Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel. Credit: Getty Images)
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002nv31)
Polly Atkin on the Short-Eared Owl
The poet and non-fiction writer Polly Atkin observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, with residents joined by migrants from Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia, seeking a gentler version of the season. Fellow owl-lovers have told Polly of the moment they arrive exhausted at the coast, and she has watched a pair nest in a building site near the sea, concerned how they would survive.
Polly Atkin is the author of The Company of Owls (Elliott & Thompson).
Presented by Polly Atkin and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.
This programme features recordings from Xeno-Canto by Lars Edenius (XC731000 and XC731272 - Short-eared owl)
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002nv33)
2025: a year of u-turns, reunions and moaning
Can Sir Kier Starmer re-establish control of his party in 2026? Henry Zeffman has a briefing. Plus, Jarvis Cocker on reunions, Kirstie Allsopp and Simon McCoy on moaning, and Mishal Husain, Lord Adebowale and John Sergeant reviewing the papers.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002nv35)
Jojo Moyes, writer
Jojo Moyes, writer, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002nv37)
WEEK 51
Writer: Naylah Ahmed
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe
21st - 26th December
Jolene Archer.... Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer.... Richard Attlee
Pat Archer.... Patricia Gallimore
Tony Archer..... David Troughton
Harrison Burns.... James Cartwright
Ruairi Donovan.... Arthur Hughes
Alan Franks.... John Telfer
George Grundy..... Angus Stobie
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Adam Macy.... Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Hannah Riley.... Helen Longworth
Fallon Rogers.... Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell.... Carole Boyd
SUN 12:15 Profile (m002nv39)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002nrtr)
Series 32
1. Pigeons, Smoking, Football and Night
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.
Ed Byrne, Ian Smith, Maisie Adam and Lucy Porters are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as pigeons, smoking, football and night.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:57 Weather (m002nv3c)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002nv3f)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 Illuminated (m002dl0j)
Lost and Found
When a dog goes missing it can be devastating. It’s every dog owners worst nightmare. Social media is awash with posts about lost dogs, some of them scams, but many are genuine cries for help from distressed people who have lost an animal they love.
Between January 2023 and June 2024 almost 5000 dogs were reported missing in the UK.
In March 2025, Roger put a lead on his Jack Russell terrier Betty, as he attended to his boat at Buckden Marina in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. With his back turned for a few minutes, she disappeared.
In this episode of Illuminated, we join a group of volunteers with St Neots Animal Search and Rescue as they seek to reunite Betty and Roger using all the experience, teamwork and technology available.
Colin Butcher is a pet detective based in West Sussex who has been recovering missing and stolen pets for over 20 years. As Colin shares his expert tips for dog-owners, through field recordings from a tiny microphone attached to a dog-collar, listeners are invited to enter the world of our missing puppy.
Producer: Peter Shevlin
A Pod60 production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002ntzn)
From The Archives: Seasons Greetings
How do you remove mistletoe? How can you protect plants from frost damage? And why do brassicas develop clubbed roots?
Kathy Clugston delves into the Gardeners’ Question Time archives to uncover timeless festive gardening wisdom.
Drawing on decades of horticultural expertise, GQT panellists and chairs — past and present — share trusted, practical advice for every green-fingered dilemma. From tackling mistletoe to safeguarding plants against winter cold, their knowledge is as enduring and deep-rooted as the gardens they tend.
Producer: Rahnee Prescod
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002nv3h)
The Last of the Mohicans - Episode 1
Published in 1826, the American writer James Fenimore Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans is set during the French and Indian War, in 1750s North America. The story follows a group of British colonists trying to cross frontier land – and examines the complexity of the relationship that existed between the colonialists and the land they were - in essence stealing – the native American’s.
The book, which has been adapted widely for film and TV, mixes fiction with real historical events and has received both huge praise, as one of the foundation stones of American literature, and substantial criticism, for perpetrating a false narrative about the fate of indigenous American people.
In the first of two episodes, John Yorke asks how Cooper came to write The Last of the Mohicans, why was it successful and what we should we make of it today.
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 Radio 4.
Contributors:
Jordan Abel, Nisga’a writer and academic.
Richard Slotkin, American Cultural Historian.
Credits:
Readings by Eric Stroud
Excerpts from The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, 1826.
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Jack Soper
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002nv3k)
The Last of the Mohicans
Episode 1
Bold revisiting of an iconic and now widely discredited novel, placing the experience of Indigenous Americans and women at its heart. A hit of its time and still a well-known title, the actual novel is rarely read by modern audiences for its dense text, melodramatic stereotyping and historical inaccuracy. Not least of which is that the Mohicans did not perish in 19th century – the tribe is alive and well today. The book is particularly disliked by most Indigenous Americans, for its dismissive portrayal of Indigenous peoples, confusion between individual tribes and historical inaccuracies.
This dynamic new audio version places the novel’s marginalised characters at its heart, exploring contemporary conflict and modern concerns - clashes between nations; the disenfranchisement of Indigenous people; threats to the environment; and how social change re-shapes the natural world.
This is the first of Radio 4’s major new collection, Story of America - dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States of America.
Developed through consultation with Indigenous American heritage academics and creatives, with new music by renowned Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, this is The Last of the Mohicans for a modern age. It is narrated by young lovers Cora, dual heritage British woman, and Uncas, Mohican hunter, taking us on a dramatic adventure of discovery through New York forest, rivers and mountains. The Indigenous characters are all nuanced, fully rounded portrayals, giving their side of 18th century wartorn America.
Episode 1
It is the middle of a war….Cora, her sister Alice and Major Duncan Heyward are trying to reach safety through the forest. They are betrayed by Magua, a Huron pretending to be their guide, but luckily fall in with Mohican family Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye who offer to help them. Cora and Uncas are immediately drawn to each other. When Magua kidnaps the sisters, he reveals that he is only doing so as revenge for their father, Colonel Munro, savagely beating Magua for stealing an apple. To save her sister, Cora is made a challenging offer by Magua ….
James Fenimore Cooper is widely considered the first great American novelist. Published in 1826, The Last of the Mohicans is set during the British-French tensions of the mid 18th century, which spilled over into war, embroiling many of the Indigenous American tribes. The war ended in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, whereby France relinquished to Britain much of its empire to the east of the Mississippi River. Cooper saw this bitter struggle as an opportunity to reconsider the historical circumstances that culminated in the Declaration of American Independence in 1776.
Dramatist Shahid Iqbal Khan has been nominated for Olivier and George Devine awards. He won a Peggy Ramsay / Film 4 bursary Award in 2024, and is one of the writers on the Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme for 2023-2025. His first full-length drama for BBC Radio 4, Love Across The Ages, was shortlisted for Best Drama ARIA Award 2023.
Thanks to: Robbie Richardson; Andrew Watts, Birmingham University; Curtis Zunigha, Historical & Cultural Consultant; William W. Madison and Raina Heaton at Sam Noble Museum; Diane Fraher at Amerinda and Shelley Angelie Saggar.
Uncas ….. Jay Rincon
Magua ….. Bradley Lewis
Cora ….. Leonie Elliott
Chingachgook ….. Jose Palma
Alice ….. Robyn McIntyre
Duncan Heyward ….. Thomas Dennis
Hawkeye ….. Adam Bond
Writer: Shahid Iqbal Khan
Consultant: Robbie Richardson
Historical and Cultural Consultant: Curtis Zunigha
Additional American sound effects: Andrew Stelzer
Original music: Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown
Production Manager: Darren Spruce
Illustration : YanKi Darling
Producer: Polly Thomas
Executive Producer: Celia de Wolff
A Thomas Carter Projects production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002nv3n)
Andrew Michael Hurley
Author Andrew Michael Hurley discusses his latest novel, Saltwash, a haunting tale of two terminally ill men whose paths cross in a run-down seaside town. Drawn into an unexpected reunion, they are forced to confront questions about life, death, and the meaning of mortality.
Andrew reflects on the three works that inspired its creation, which were: Aubade by Philip Larkin (1977), Free Will by Sam Harris (2012), and The Summer People by Shirely Jackson (1950).
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Great Lives (m002ntwc)
Alex Wheatle, the Bard of Brixton
After a childhood in care in Surrey, Alex Wheatle was moved to a hostel in Brixton aged fourteen. Later he was involved in the riots and given a prison sentence, events which were covered in one of the Small Axe anthology of films by Steve McQueen. But it is Wheatle's writing career that has prompted Ashley John Baptiste to pick him for Great Lives - and his success was rapid and inspiring before his early death in 2025. Joining Ashley in this celebration of the life and career of the Brixton Bard is Lemn Sissay and Vanessa Walters, author of Rude Girls and The Nigerwife.
Includes archive of Alex Wheatle MBE at the Hay Festival in 2024 and on Graham Norton's radio show.
The producer for BBC Studios in Bristol is Miles Warde
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yqq)
Robert Ripley and the ‘Believe It or Not’ empire
In December 1918, sports writer and cartoonist Robert Ripley was struggling to find some content for his column in the New York Globe.
So he compiled and illustrated some of the quirkiest sports facts from the year and created what would go onto become the ‘Believe It or Not’ cartoon.
Its popularity grew and, by the time of America’s Great Depression, Ripley was a multi-millionaire who would travel the world on his hunt for more weird and wonderful facts.
His empire expanded into radio and, in 1940, he persuaded the Duke of Windsor – who had abdicated from the throne in 1936 - to give his first commercial radio appearance.
John Corcoran, exhibits director at Ripley’s, tells Vicky Farncombe about that historic moment.
This programme also includes archive courtesy of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Archives.
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: Robert Ripley. Credit: Getty Images)
SUN 17:10 Punt & Dennis: Route Masters (m0023zjh)
Series 1: From Beer to Eternity
10 – From Flying Reindeers to Eternity
This series of Route Masters has seen Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis make a grand journey from Beer to Eternity. In this festive finale, they reach their end goal, with stop-offs including flying reindeer, Quality Street, Home Alone and Christmas Island.
They're joined in this extended special by Zoe Lyons, who not only helps find random connections of her own, but gets to judge whether Steve or Hugh’s final link is the most impressive.
Written and hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
With Zoe Lyons
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
Mixed by Jonathan Last
A Listen production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002nv3r)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002nv3t)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv3w)
The French actress and singer, Brigitte Bardot, has died
Brigitte Bardot, the French actress and singer who became an international sex symbol, has died at the age of ninety-one. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, called her a "legend of the century". She rose to fame in the 1950s and starred in almost fifty films before turning her back on celebrity to devote her life to animal welfare, saying she was sick of being beautiful. But she continued to court controversy with her outspoken remarks on race and homosexuality.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002nv3y)
Pick of the Year 2025 (Part 2)
Jeanette Winterson presents a selection of audio highlights from the past year across the BBC.
Producer: Anthony McKee
Presenter: Jeanette Winterson
Production Coordinators: Caoilfhinn McFadden and Caroline Peddle
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002nv40)
George is helping Ed with some tree surgery at Grange Farm, but accidentally hits Ed in the face with a branch. Later, when Brad comes over to Little Grange, Emma notices blood on a door handle. When Emma and Brad see the cut to Ed’s eyebrow they wince at how deep it is. George explains what happened, before Brad remarks on the same thing happening the other day. George insists last time was different and he never meant to hit Ed. George and Ed cover that both incidents were accidents, but Brad isn’t convinced. Emma patches Ed up, before he heads back with George to finish the job. Brad confronts Emma with his suspicions about all the “accidents” happening to Ed – that’s three in a month. Is Ed getting sloppy - or is he letting George hit him? Brad thinks Ed might be protecting George by taking the blame off him, so he won’t get sent back to prison. Emma can’t believe Ed wouldn’t have told her if that was the case, but Brad’s worried George might do Ed some serious harm if it happens again.
Chris takes Alice and Martha to the last day of Deck The Hall, then while Martha’s crafting a reindeer he teases Alice about appearing as a fairy in the Tractor Run. Alice sympathises over things not working out with Carly, before suggesting her and Chris are doomed to being single. Chris disagrees, showing Alice a dating app he’s signed up to. He thinks Alice should do the same, but she isn’t keen.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002nv42)
Bass Notes
Bass guitarist and record producer Jah Wobble has had a lifetime’s immersion at the low end of the musical spectrum. Over four decades, his hypnotic bass riffs have powered music from punk to reggae, fusion to world music.
He relates his first experiences as a teenager attending blues dances where Jamaican sound systems played cuts of reggae dub where the bass felt like a force like gravity, and seeing Bob Marley and the Wailers where he was captivated by the playing of bassist Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, and on to his own involvement with Public Image Limited, where he brought a dub sensibility into their post-punk music. He discusses his long years as a solo artist, and collaborations with musical legends from Can’s Holger Czukay to Sinead O’Connor, and Primal Scream to Pharoah Sanders.
During these years, Jah Wobble has also been interested in the Science of Bass. So, he meets up with Dr Duncan Edwards of Salford University, to ask him about the special, physical properties of Bass Notes. How do they reach our brains and, once there, what psychological, emotional effects can they have on us? To understand this, he submits to an experiment where his head is wired up, and the Wobble brain waves measured.
After years lost in drink and drugs Jah Wobble turned to Buddhism and became fascinated by alternative explanations of his bass playing that this could give him. He interviews eminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Jampa Thaye, to find further enlightenment. And in a south London Prayer room, he listens to the extraordinary low-pitched chanting of exiled Tibetan monks, where one mantra has the awesome power of a bass note.
Presenter: Jah Wobble
Producer: Alastair Laurence
Sound Design: Jake Wittlin
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0010pn6)
Think Yourself Stronger
Pumping iron in the gym is the only way to improve strength, right? Wrong. In this episode, Michael explores the power of the mind to boost strength by up to 24%... Our willing human guinea pig Tom has a go at improving his goal-shooting skills with his mind, and Michael speaks to cognitive neuroscientist Dr Helen O’Shea to reveal how your thoughts can influence your muscles and why it’s surprisingly similar to doing the actual thing.
SUN 20:00 Sphere of Influence (m0025cn4)
What do you think of when you hear the phrase "artistic genius"? Maybe a creative icon? Or a unique talent?
But every artist creates their works in a time and a place, inspired by the world around them. And sometimes these sources of inspiration are properly surprising and help us think of their works in new ways.
In this programme, Kate Bryan takes one artistic work which has reached iconic status and finds out about the unexpected influencers who might have led to the work's creation. The work she's picked is Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream. Painted in 1893 when Munch was a young man, the painting has become an icon, there's even an emoji. But can we see the artwork in a new light by learning about the influencers who might have inspired Munch to paint it?
Joining Kate in the studio is Professor Dorothy Price from the Courtauld Institute of Art - together they meet influencers from Parisian painters to Peruvian mummies, from German philosophers to cloud formations! At the end of the programme, they must choose the influencer they found the most persuasive or who helped them see The Scream in a totally new light.
With contributions from Christopher Heaney, Associate Professor at Pennsylvania State University; Sue Prideaux, author of Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream; the atmospheric physicist Dr Fred Prata and the environmental historian and writer Dr Richard Hamblyn.
Presenter: Kate Bryan
Producer: Camellia Sinclair for BBC Audio in Bristol
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002ntzs)
Antony Price, Sister Stan Kennedy, Ena Collymore Woodstock, John Carey
Jon Kay on
Fashion designer Antony Price who fused together the worlds of fashion and music in the 70s and 80s
Sister Stan Kennedy, the nun who founded one of Ireland’s largest homelessness charities
Ena Collymore Woodstock, the Jamaican barrister and magistrate who throughout her career broke many barriers for women
John Carey, the academic and former chief literary critic for The Times who took no prisoners with his reviews.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley
Archive
Midweek: Professor John Carey, Benny Lewis, Eduardo Niebla, Lynn Ruth Miller, BBC Radio 4, 19/03/2014; The Verb (Week 10), BBC Radio 3, 13/03/2015; Meet the Author, BBC News, 20/03/2014; SAL Night 2020 – A Message From Sister Stan, Founder and President, Focus Ireland, YouTube, 16/10/2020; Redlight – Sr Stan Kennedy, YouTube (Immigration Council), 20/08/2018; Everyman: Ireland’s Hidden People, BBC One, 24/04/1988; Mary H.R.H. Princess Royal, BBC Archive, 26/06/1940; Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing – Gone Christmas Fishing, BBC Two, 13/12/2020
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002nv44)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002nv1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002nv46)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Loose Ends (m002nv48)
Loose Ends Lounge: Blossoms, The Divine Comedy, Emma-Jean Thackray, The Horne Section, Bill Ryder Jones
In the second of two special programmes, Stuart Maconie showcases some of the best Loose Ends music sessions from the past year. With performances from Blossoms, The Divine Comedy, The Horne Section, Emma-Jean Thackray, and Bill Ryder Jones & the NASUWT Riverside Brass Ensemble
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Sam Nixon
Production Co-ordinator: Leo Davies
SUN 23:00 Archive on 4 (m000240n)
Gareth Gwynn’s Alternative Archive
Remember when Russia landed the first man on the moon? How Tony Blair became European President, and Delia Smith became Pope? Or how the American Writers Guild Strike indirectly led to the election of President Donald J Trump?
Satirist Gareth Gwynn does. Blurring fact and fiction, using genuine archive from the last 50 years, he tells the story of world-changing events that could have happened.
Written and presented by Gareth Gwynn
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios Production
This programme was first broadcast in January 2019.
MONDAY 29 DECEMBER 2025
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002nv4b)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002nttw)
Argentina's elusive big cats
After decades of extinction, wild jaguars are once again roaming in Northern Argentina. It has been at least thirty five years since a wild jaguar cub was spotted in this dry and dusty part of Argentina. But in August 2025, a baby appeared on the chocolatey-brown banks of the River Bermejo. Its existence was a great success for the team from Rewilding Argentina, a non-profit foundation that started reintroducing these magnificent beasts here in 2019. But it has not been easy: hunting is still a problem and the organisation has had to get the locals on board with sharing their home with big cats. For Crossing Continents, Charlotte Pritchard travels to 'The Impenetrable Forest' to find out how the birth of this baby became possible.
Reporter: Charlotte Pritchard
Producer: Macarena Gagliardi
Mixed by Duncan Hannant
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002nv4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nv4g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nv4j)
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 (m002nv4l)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Last Word (m002ntzs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nv4n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nv4q)
Still need to do
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good morning. Today is national Tick-Tock day. Nothing to do with social media, but the literal sound that a clock makes. The idea is that you have limited time left of this year to sort out your unfinished business.When the day was invented, just over 30 years ago, they originally named it ‘still need to do day.’
And let’s be honest, there’s always something needing to be done. My front car wheel has a slow puncture, I have a laundry pile nearly as tall as me and I haven’t completed my 2025 invoices yet.
I recently had the flu, I don’t mean a bit of a cold, I mean the real proper flu where you can’t get out of bed for days, your temperature is sky high and you feel utterly horrendous. As I began to get a little better, it dawned on me, I’d essentially missed three days of my life. I felt oddly guilty that those days were ‘wasted’ even though in reality I was too ill to do anything about it.
The world tells us that if we’re not actively producing, we’re worthless. The Bible doesn’t agree. I love the message version of Jeremiah 2: “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What's the hurry?
So, on National Tick tock day, I guess we’re meant to hurry to finish unfinished business and be productive before the new year. But what if instead we breathe in what we have and what we’re grateful for? That we are still before God and use our time to deepen our relationship with Jesus. And we don’t panic if we still have a large laundry pile on 1st January?
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for rest, calm and stillness. We ask that you would help us remember that life is not an emergency and we don’t constantly have to hurry. Help us be still and know that you are God.
Amen
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002nv4s)
The Longhorns of Salisbury Plain
Elise Sutton is a new entrant to farming, but the herd of Longhorn cattle she looks after have a blood line that goes back 85 years. The Stoke herd, which graze the chalk grassland of Salisbury Plain, are seen as integral to the protection of rich and varied flora and fauna, including some orchids not found anywhere else in the world. Marie Lennon has a tour of Cherry Lodge Farm with Elise, as well as Debbi Dan from the Longhorn Cattle Society.
Produced and presented by Marie Lennon.
MON 05:57 Weather (m002nv4v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002nv8b)
Mustafa Suleyman Guest Edits Today
AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman is the fourth Today guest editor this Christmas period.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002nv8g)
Animals and Meaning
What do animals mean to us? Naomi Alderman explores how animals shape human understanding, from ancient burial rites to modern science.
The psychologist Justin Gregg specialises in dolphin social cognition. He introduces his new book, Humanish, a witty and provocative look at anthropomorphism — our habit of seeing human traits in animals, objects and machines — and how it helps us make sense of the world and increases empathy.
Peter Fretwell is a leading scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, and author of The Penguin Book of Penguins. He celebrates the charm and complexity of penguins, from their evolutionary quirks to their cultural symbolism, alongside the threats they face today.
Marianne Hem Eriksen is Professor of Viking Studies at the National Museum of Denmark and part of the BBC / Arts and Humanities Research Council scheme of New Generation Thinkers. She draws on archaeological evidence to show how Viking societies had a complex relationship with animals, seeing them not just as pets or food, but as extensions of human identity and mythology.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Assistant Producer: Natalia Fernandez
MON 09:45 Wild Bond (m001d5pn)
The Gadgets
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 episode, bring your razor-rimmed bowler-hat, your cigarette-torpedo, and all the explosives you can fit in a specially designed pen-lid, as we discuss the gadgets in the world of Bond. The Quartermaster, better known as 'Q', is the genius behind the gadgetry which seems to get 007 out of even the tightest of scrapes. He has a top secret M15 bunker to work in, testing beds, lab-coated staff, and a seemingly infinite budget. What has nature got that can compete with that? Well, only around 3.7 billion years of evolution. Animals have been waging war on one another from the moment the first proto-microbe decided to consume the second, and the weaponry has become increasingly sophisticated.
With Bond expert Ian Kinane from the University of Roehampton, and Marc-Olivier Coppens from UCL.
Presented and Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002nv8n)
'Battle of the Sexes' 2025, Irish nurses, AI & age-related diseases
Yesterday, the women's tennis number one, Aryna Sabalenka, faced Nick Kyrgios, ranked 671st in the men's game, in a match that was dubbed the new 'Battle of the Sexes'. She lost in straight sets. The title references the 1973 game when the best women’s player in the world, Billie Jean King, beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets. But how relevant is this for the game now and what if anything has it achieved for women's sport? Clare McDonnell is joined by BBC Sport journalist Jonathan Jurejko, and Flo Clifford, Sports Reporter for the Independent.
From the very beginning of the NHS in 1948, Irish women were actively recruited to staff British hospitals. By the 1960s, there were around 30,000 Irish-born nurses - making up roughly one in eight of all nurses – yet their contribution has often gone unrecognised. A new book aims to change that. Based on dozens of interviews, it tells the story of Irish nurses in their own words. We hear from co-author of Irish Nurses in the NHS: and Oral History, Professor Louise Ryan, who spent years researching Irish migration. And from Ethel Corduff, who grew up in Tralee before coming to England to train as a nurse, a career she spent 40 years in.
We discuss the women stepping onto the dohyo - the sacred circle used for Sumo wrestling. There has been a surge of interest in the UK—so what’s drawing more women to this ancient sport? Especially as in Japan they are still banned from competing professionally. We’ll hear from British competitor Toraigh Mallon and from Lance Wicks from Southampton Sumo.
Did you manage to switch off from work over Christmas? Is your mind already turning to setting some big life goals for 2026? If you struggled to strike the right balance in 2025, we have just the thing to help you reset your relationship with work and success for the year ahead. The Woman’s Hour Guide to Life features a whole episode on ambition, burnout, and how to stay driven while also being kind to yourself. TV chef and author Lorraine Pascale and Dr Claire Ashley, the author of The Burnout Doctor, discuss.
Could AI be the answer to treating age-related diseases – or could it reinforce gender biases that sideline women’s health? Dr Carina Kern is a geneticist and biotechnology scientist who specialises in ageing. She joins Clare in the studio to discuss the potential risks and benefits of using AI in medical research and ageing.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
MON 11:00 What Happened to Progress? (m002nv8r)
Forward Thinking
Matthew Sweet explores the idea of a 'polycrisis' of progress across the intertwined spheres of technology, economic expansion, climate and the global political order.
In the spheres of technology, industry, economic growth and geopolitics the notion of human progress seems to have gone into reverse. There are widespread fears that new and incomprehensible technologies will turn against us. The industrial revolutions that enabled prosperity and comfort are now fuelling our ecological self-destruction. And just when we need global institutions to help regulate technological tyranny and combat climate disaster, the postwar architecture of the UN, international law and human rights seem increasingly marginalised in a world order that itself seems to be devolving.
For centuries, technology and scientific development, economic expansion and global governance were all seen as markers of progress - the Enlightenment’s promise of endless, forward improvement. But across all these fields this narrative now seems to be in crisis.
The idea of progress is so hardwired into our culture and psychology, it's not an easy idea to give up. But is the idea of endless progress itself now part of the problem? And progress for whom? It’s a relatively new idea - older periods in human history imagined the passing of time in cyclical or seasonal terms far more attuned to sustainability and the natural world. Given our current age of ‘polycrisis’ - the interconnection of global technology, climate catastrophe and geopolitical disorder - do we need to rethink how to think the future beyond the concept of linear time, endless expansion and progress?
Author, historian and broadcaster Matthew Sweet asks what happened to progress - has it stopped? Are we going backwards? How have our ideas about progress themselves changed? With the help of thinkers, historians, writers and activists, Matthew asks if the concept can be re-imagined to give us newfound agency, shared humanity and most of all, hope.
In this episode Matthew explores the idea of technological development as the archetypal narrative of human progress - but does the idea of progress always carry with it its own shadow?
Contributors in this episode include the philosopher John Gray, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, military historian Margaret MacMillan, artist and writer on technology James Bridle, historian David Edgerton, author Adam Greenfield, novelist Joanna Kavenna, science writer and journalist Philip Ball, psychoanalyst Adam Phillips and Google's CTO of Technology and Society, Blaise Aguera y Arcas.
Producer: Eliane Glaser and Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:45 Larkin Revisited (m0019yy1)
Born Yesterday
Across ten programmes and ten iconic Phillip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he unpicks Larkin's poems in his centenary year, and lets the language that entered the culture resonate as he goes about his own life as a poet ( ‘Sent out of sight/ Somewhere becoming rain.’, ‘It becomes still more difficult to find/ Words at once true and kind/ Or not untrue and not unkind.').
Larkin's poems still feel like contraband: saying the unsayable, facing the reality of time and its passing - whilst offering moments of astonishing beauty and transcendence. Simon has lived with Larkin's work ever since he was told as a teenager that there was a real poet living in Yorkshire. He is fascinated by the way his poems are constructed; the way they often seem to tear things down, often exposing the truth of something difficult, and yet can also be freeing – the opposite of platitudes.
The poems Simon has chosen to explore (including ‘Aubade’ and ‘The Whitsun Weddings’) show Larkin's range and achievement; they are poems that face the truth of relationships, of death, as well as poems of place and civic life like 'Bridge for the Living' (an unusual commission for Larkin which celebrates Hull as an 'Isolate city').
In this series Simon takes us to the places Larkin’s poems understood intimately – Coventry, and Hull – as he ‘roadtests’ different poems, to see what survives of them in 2022, especially when we know so much more about the private world of this complex and contradictory poet, than his first readers would have known.
Episode one;
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem 'Born Yesterday' - a poem written to celebrate the birth of a baby girl, and which suggests she might be happier if she can be dull.
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
MON 12:00 Archive on 4 (m002d9cl)
Into the Sharkiverse
It’s 50 years since Jaws first surfaced in cinemas in 1975, creating the phenomenon of the blockbuster, and leaving millions of people scared of getting into the water.
To celebrate the golden anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s marine masterpiece, comedian and writer Jon Harvey presents a hilarious history of shark fiction. From Batman punching a shark, to the Fonz jumping the shark, to Sharknado, Baby Shark and beyond, this is a unique odyssey through quite possibly the maddest genre in all entertainment.
Written, produced and presented by Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Eloise Whitmore and Jo Meek
Sound Design: Tony Churnside
Research: Louis Blatherwick
Shark movie consultant: Tom Walker
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
MON 13:00 World at One (m002nv8y)
Zelensky and Trump discuss security guarantees
After meeting Donald Trump in Florida, President Zelensky says the US is offering Ukraine security guarantees against Russian aggression for fifteen years. As part of the latest peace talks, the pair reportedly also discussed a demilitarised zone in the east of Ukraine - we assess how feasible such a zone could be. Plus, we hear from a Syrian refugee living in Sweden – about how he hopes to one day return to his home country.
MON 13:45 An Almanac for Anxiety: In Search of a Calmer Mind (m001ng75)
Episode 1 - Fire
Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the UK, with nearly a fifth of people experiencing it over the course of a year. Although it is often treated through medication, there are many alternative ways which are proving to be very effective in reducing anxiety amongst some people. In this series, we explore how connecting with the elemental forces of nature helps people with a range of mental illnesses to feel better. We also learn about the current academic research behind these methods.
In Episode 1 - Fire - we visit an overnight camp on the banks of the River Spey near Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands run by the charity Fire and Peace. According to the participants, - who have a range of mental ill health and addiction issues - the experience of spending time around the fire in nature is transformative when it comes to promoting feelings of connection and wellbeing. We also hear new research which shows how being around a campfire can be calming.
Produced and Presented by Helen Needham
Research by Anna Miles and Maud Start
Original Music by Anthony Cowie
Mixed by Ron McCaskill
A BBC Scotland Production made in Aberdeen for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002nv40)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Disordered (m002nv91)
Series 2
1. Two Bedrooms, Three People
A comedy drama, written by Magnus Mackintosh, and starring Jamie Sives as Hector, an optimistic but struggling 43-year-old single father, with long-term mental health issues, who lives in Edinburgh with his unusually bright 11-year-old son William. He is aided by kindly friend and neighbour Susan and hindered by acerbic ex-partner Amanda.
In Episode One, Two Bedrooms, Three People, Hector and William both struggle having ex-wife/Mum Amanda staying as a lodger and do everything they can to help Amanda find somewhere for herself. Susan also feels left out, especially when Hector meets social-media savvy Joy at a food bank fundraiser.
The writer, Magnus Mackintosh, has personally struggled with mental health issues over 27 years. He openly discusses his own mental health issues on social media in the hope he can help others and raise awareness.
Created and Written by Magnus Mackintosh
Cast
Hector - Jamie Sives
Susan - Rosalind Sydney
William - Raffi Philips
Amanda - Gail Watson
Housing Officer – Steven McNicoll
Joy – Alison O’Donnell
Studio Engineer and Editor - Lee McPhail
Production Manager - Tayler Norris
Title Music - Just Breathe by Police Dog Hogan
Produced and Directed by Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy
Recorded at Castlesound Studios, Pencaitland, East Lothian
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:45 Faith, Hope and Glory (m000s3nt)
Series 1
5. Faith and Trevor
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, Faith and Trevor meet in a pub near Tilbury Docks.
Cast
Faith ..... Shiloh Coke
Trevor ..... Gary Beadle
Writer ..... Roy Williams
Director ..... Mary Peate
Producer ..... Jessica Dromgoole
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002nv97)
Helen Carr picks Christine de Pizan at the Gloucester history festival
Christine de Pizan was born in Italy but most of her life was spent in Paris, where her father was astrologer to the King of France. After her husband died she was left alone to bring up her three children. Christine's most famous work is The Book of the City of Ladies, and historian Helen Carr says she has been inspired by her ever since seeing one of her manuscripts in the British Library. Joining her on stage at the Gloucester History Festival is Christine's biographer Charlotte Cooper-Davis for a lively recording about an important character who was definitely ahead of her time.
The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde
MON 15:30 Curious Cases (m002nv73)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Saturday]
MON 16:00 Soul Music (m002nv71)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002nv9f)
President Trump's end of year diplomacy
The US president continues to work on his ambition to end Ukraine and Middle East conflicts. Also on PM, after stark warnings on the state of palliative care, we discuss what can be done to repair the system. And, as the new series of the Traitors approaches, we speak to the composer about creating the smash hit theme tune.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv9k)
Tories call for action over British-Egyptian activist
The Conservatives call on the Home Secretary to take action over the British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who has apologised for past tweets about killing Zionists and the police. Also: Russia revises its stance on peace negotiations, after accusing Ukraine of targeting one of President Putin's official residences. And the next instalment in our series about next year's local and devolved elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
MON 18:15 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vlbc)
Series 1
Visual Humour and Misericords
There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Flo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.
In today's programme Ian looks for the earliest examples of visual humour. It's not something you can find in the texts of ancient manuscripts, but in the company of art historian Dr Janina Ramirez he finds, under the seats of New College Oxford Chapel, wooden carvings that suggest those who made them were never happier than when making people laugh. There are straining green men, noble knights on pantomime horses and semi-clad students involved in what appears to be a boozy brawl.
Without the benefit of film, it's as near as we can get to examples of Late Medieval visual humour which verges on a depiction of slapstick.
Producer: Tom Alban
MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002nv9p)
Series 32
2. Jane Austen, Berries, The Netherlands and School
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they’re able to smuggle past their opponents.
Holly Walsh, Henning Wehn, Tony Hawks and Zoe Lyons are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as Jane Austen, berries, the Netherlands and school.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
MON 19:00 The Archers (m002nv57)
Emma confers with Will over what Brad said about George and Ed, with Will admitting he’s thought sometimes that George might hit him too. Emma reckons they have to do something to stop it getting worse, but what? Then Eddie asks them what’s going on.
George tells Amber he’s been referred for counselling over his temper. He later interrupts Amber making a video, pushing her to have sex, before Will calls him downstairs, where Emma and Eddie are waiting too. They insist George tell the truth about what’s been going on, which he does very reluctantly. Emma accuses George of emotionally blackmailing Ed, like he did with Emma so she wouldn’t tell people he was driving Alice’s car. George tells them about the counselling, but shouts at Eddie when he berates George for deliberately hurting his own family. Amber then snaps at George for not telling her the truth. George tries to justify his actions, claiming they’ve all felt like killing Ed, before doubling down with vicious comments about Emma and Nic, only stopping when Amber slaps him in the face and walks out. Will tells George to pack his bags, with Emma and Eddie adding that he’s not welcome to stay with them either, before George storms off.
Amber tells Brad she’s finally seen the light about George, after what he said to Will and Emma. She clings to Brad for solace, asking if she can stay the night, while rejecting a call from George. She needs somewhere she can think.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002nv9t)
Who are the Founding Fathers and Mothers of American Culture?
In 1776, the Founding Fathers of America signed the Declaration of Independence, embarking on a new experiment in how to build a nation.
On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the founding fathers – and mothers – of American culture: the key figures who shaped American literature, music, visual art, and theatre and created a distinctively American voice.
With the literary historian Sarah Churchwell, the art historian Erin Pauwels, the musicologist Glenda Goodman, the music critic Kevin Legendre, and the theatre historian Heather Nathans and critic Matt Wolf.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
MON 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001r7md)
The Cult of Lebowski
Twenty-five years ago, the Coen brothers' follow-up to the Oscar-winning Fargo had critics scratching their heads.
A comedy? And a weird one at that - encompassing a typically incomprehensible film noir plot, philosophy, the War in Iraq and... bowling?
Archive on 4 digs into the vaults and speaks to an array of critics to define the peculiar, quotable appeal of the film - and ask if finding its own fanbase and a critical reappraisal make it the perfect definition of a cult film.
Featuring James King, Angie Errigo, Katie Smith-Wong, Tim Robey, Sir Roger Deakins, Joel Morris, Matt Qvortrup and Hannah Strong.
Presented by Helen O'Hara
Produced by Kevin Core
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002nv8g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Wild Bond (m001d5pn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002nv9z)
China launches massive drills around Taiwan
China has begun military drills around Taiwan - weeks after Washington announced one of its biggest-ever arms sales to the island. We hear from a senior US congressman.
Also on the programme:
President Trump says he's unhappy after Russia accuses Ukraine of mounting a drone attack on one of President Putin's homes. But did they? We speak to our Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg.
And we hear from the actor Warwick Davis who's just been awarded an OBE.
MON 22:45 A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín (m002nvb3)
Episode One
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Long Island.’ Read by Stanley Townsend.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves. Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter.
Author
Colm Tóibín is the author of several novels, including ‘The Master’, ‘Brooklyn’ and its sequel ‘Long Island’, and ‘The Magician’, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.
Reader: Stanley Townsend
Writer: Colm Tóibín
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 The Birth of Music (m0025468)
The ancient West Kennet Long Barrow burial chamber near Avebury in Wiltshire was built around 3650 BC. Its cave-like spaces, formed by vast rocks, are the setting for Jude Rogers’ exploration of how Neolithic people of that time might have made music.
We can’t know for sure of course, but music, ritual and dance are universal features of human life, and so it must have been even in pre-history. So what might be the links between prehistoric music gatherings and dance music culture today? A rave in the cave?
Jude is joined by Professor Rupert Till from the University of Huddersfield aka Professor Chill, a DJ and electronic music producer who knows about sound frequencies in ancient sites, and Letty Stott, a musician and PHD student who can get a tune from a conch. Historical context is provided by Dr Ben Chan, a highly experienced archaeologist from the University of Bristol who works at Avebury nearby.
We also hear from Ritta Rainio in Finland, whose research into prehistoric pendants culminated in a wild dance in a costume of rattling elk teeth. Artist and musician Jem Finer tells us the story of the Gurdy Stone.
Meanwhile musician ‘Spaceship’ Mark Williamson is hard at work recording sounds inside a neolithic tomb in Anglesey.
Presented by Jude Rogers
Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:30 BBC National Short Story Award (m002jhnd)
BBC National Short Story Award 2025
You Cannot Thread a Moving Needle by Colwill Brown
Colwill Brown's powerful and heart-breaking story is about Shaz, a teenager who is more vulnerable than she realises. A brutal incident with two boys has a lasting impact, leaving her with a powerful sense of shame, and curtailing her life chances. The reader is Sophie McShera.
Colwill Brown is the author of the novel We Pretty Pieces of Flesh published in 2025. Her work has appeared in Granta, Prairie Schooner, and other publications, and she has received scholarships and awards from the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Hedgebrook, Ragdale, the Anderson Center, GrubStreet Center for Creative Writing, and elsewhere.
The annual BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University marks its twentieth anniversary in 2025 with a shortlist of five short stories by established and newer writers to the form. The five outstanding stories explore relationships, community and place against a backdrop of a world in crisis.
For two decades this award has celebrated writers who are the UK’s finest exponents of the form. James Lasdun secured the inaugural Award in 2006 for ‘An Anxious Man’. In 2012 when the Award expanded internationally for one year, Miroslav Penkov was victorious for his story, ‘East of the West’. Last year, the Award was won by Ross Raisin for ‘Ghost Kitchen’, a tense, cinematic story narrated by a bicycle courier and inspired by the gig economy and the ‘dark kitchens’ of the restaurant industry.
In its 20-year history, Sarah Hall, K J Orr, Naomi Wood, Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, Clare Wigfall, Cynan Jones, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams and David Constantine have also carried off the Award with shortlisted authors including Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, William Trevor, Rose Tremain, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, K Patrick and Jacqueline Crooks.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Di Speirs who has sat on every judging panel since the Award’s inception and is joined by the very first chair of judges, William Boyd as well as former winners and shortlisted writers Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Kamila Shamsie.
In a time when literary awards come and go, and can struggle for funding and airtime, the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University continues to be a cause for joy
From 15th to 18th September four of the shortlisted stories can be heard at
3.30 each afternoon with the fifth story in contention for the award broadcasting on Friday, 19th September, at
11.30pm. The winner of the 20th BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday 30th September 2025.
If you have been a victim of child or adult sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
TUESDAY 30 DECEMBER 2025
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002nvb7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:15 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (m00268yt)
Little Hare
Raising Hare is Chloe Dalton’s memoir of caring for an abandoned leveret – and how the bond that grows between them changes her perspective on life.
Lockdown leads Chloe away from her demanding London job as a political advisor and back to the countryside of her childhood, where she stumbles across a lone baby hare - defenceless on an open country road. Against her better judgment, she feels compelled to take the tiny creature in and give it a chance at survival.
In the weeks and months that follow, a bond grows between hare and human as Chloe cares for the animal and prepares for it to return to the wild - the outcome she had always planned. The story grants us a rare insight into the lives of these elusive creatures, once thriving in the UK and now increasingly dwindling as their habitats recede and man-made threats advance.
In this second episode, the leveret is fast growing into a little hare, each day bringing a new discovery for Dalton about the habits, history, and necessary care of these mysterious animals. She also finds out, to her own exhaustion, just how fast a hare can run.
Read by Lisa Faulkner
Produced and abridged by Jo Rowntree and Heather Dempsey
Sound Design by Dan King
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Illustration by Denise Nestor
This is an EcoAudio certified production.
Find all the latest books at the bottom of the Sounds homepage. Just click on the Books collection.
TUE 00:30 Larkin Revisited (m0019z0c)
Love Songs in Age
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode two:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem Love Songs in Age
Love Songs in Age is a poem that tries to capture the emotions we feel when we hear music that reminds us of our youth, and love that has passed or ended.
But does it still resonate with us in 2022?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nvbc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nvbh)
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 (m002nvbn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 From Our Own Correspondent (m002nv46)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nvbr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nvbw)
Standing up for what is good
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good morning. A few weeks ago, my six year old son played the part of Joseph in our church nativity. He isn’t a natural actor, but he managed his four lines pretty well. The kids sang as he and the little girl playing Mary arrived at the front of the church (or Bethlehem if you suspend your disbelief.) The Bible says there was no room in the Inn. That one sentence has given licence to nativities all across the world to cast at least three kids with the part of ‘Innkeeper.’ The child simply has to yell ‘no room’ and most teachers can persuade any unenthusiastic five year old to say that.
But I often wondered why they couldn’t stay with Joseph’s family? Surely if he was from Bethlehem, he still would have had relations living there. Although the Bible doesn’t say it explicitly, I suspect the shame of Mary’s pregnancy outside of marriage would have been too shocking and Joseph would have been rejected. Although my son was somewhat disappointed with his four lines, I think the character of Joseph is often undervalued.
When he was told by an angel that Mary's pregnancy was divine, Joseph immediately obeyed and chose to stay with her and look after her. For this decision he would have faced a huge amount of social disapproval.
Joseph continued to work as a carpenter and provided for Mary and baby Jesus. He took his role as a father and husband seriously, even though it might harm his reputation. He stood up for what is good and true and stuck by his loved ones, even when was difficult.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Joseph and for his example to us all. Thank you for fathers and for foster or stepfathers who step up in the way Joseph did. Help us stand up for marginalised people and look after them even when it would be easier to turn a blind eye.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002nvc0)
30/12/25 The Luck Penny
Farmers at Rathfriland market in County Down still practise an old tradition when livestock changes hands. Farmers selling their animals hand money back to the buyer, to seal the deal. It's known as the luck penny and is a way of wishing the customer success with the stock and building up a trustworthy business relationship. At the old fairs, a couple of coins would be handed over - today it could be a £20 note. The tradition, said to have originated in Ireland and lives on in modern insurance policies covering livestock after sale. And in Rathfriland, it is celebrated with a sculpture of a giant bronze penny in the town square.
Produced and presented by Kathleen Carragher.
TUE 06:00 Today (m002nv4x)
Tom Holland Guest Edits Today
Historian Tom Holland is the fifth Today guest editor this festive period.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m002nv4z)
Jehane Ragai on the science of authenticating artworks
Ever heard of the unsuccessful Dutch painter who decided to humiliate his critics by forging Vermeers, which the artworld subsequently dubbed 'masterpieces'?
Or the businessman who bought a Marc Chagall painting that he displayed with pride for years, before a television investigation revealed to his horror that it was a fake?
Today we're exploring the scientific techniques used to reveal forged artworks - and bring down scammers still trying to make millions from fake masterpieces.
Jehane Ragai is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the American University in Cairo, with a passion for science matched by her love of arts and culture. Early in her career Jehane helped analyse the Great Sphinx of Giza and later became fascinated by the world of art forgery, leading to her acclaimed book, ‘The Scientist and the Forger’.
Her life has not been without its difficulties, but - perhaps unsurprisingly, as the daughter of renowned Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik - she’s not one to shy away from a challenge. And as she tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jehane feels priveleged to have been able to integrate her twin passions into a career; advice she now passes on to her students.
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
A BBC Studios production for Radio 4
TUE 09:30 What Is Quantum? (m002nv51)
Quantum theory – our best understanding of the world at the smallest level – is famously weird and notoriously confusing. It’s a theory that seems to say particles can be in two places at once, or somehow “know” if you’re looking at them. Or at least, that’s what you might have heard. But is that really what quantum theory tells us about reality?
To find out, presenter Marnie Chesterton travels to the birthplace of quantum theory: the remote, windswept island of Helgoland. Here, in 1925, a young scientist called Werner Heisenberg made a leap of understanding that laid the foundations of quantum mechanics, and changed the world.
To mark a century of quantum, leading physicists from across the globe have gathered on Helgoland for a conference, and Marnie joins them with an unconventional plan. She’s allowed to ask them JUST ONE QUESTION, in the hope it can get to the heart of what this strange and difficult subject is really about: “What IS quantum?”
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Anand Jagatia
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jazz George
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002nv53)
Beyoncé the billionaire, Adults regressing at Christmas, Girls' political confidence
Beyoncé has been declared a billionaire by Forbes, making her the fifth musician to join its list of the world's wealthiest people with 10 figure fortunes, including Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé's husband Jay Z. Clare McDonnell speaks to Jacqueline Springer, music journalist and Curator of Africa & Diaspora: Performance at the Victoria & Albert museum, about what makes Beyoncé such a successful businesswoman, and the challenges along the way.
Why can adults seem to regress to childhood or teenage behaviours at Christmas? We discuss family dynamics and the kinds of behaviour that can re-surface with everyone under the same roof again. Guardian columnist Elle Hunt shares her own experience alongside Woman's Hour listeners, and Psychotherapist Julia Samuel offers advice.
Madelaine Thomas works as a professional dominatrix. When her own images were shared online without her consent, she decide to develop a tool that could allow images to be tracked, and abusers identified. Image Angel was the result, offering forensic image protection for platforms, and she's now trying to get businesses in the adult entertainment industry on board.
Do we need to re-think our attitudes to ageing, as we age? As we approach 2026, we consider how to shed a negative attitude towards ageing, and embrace growing older and wiser, by revisiting an episode of the Woman’s Hour Guide to Life: How to make ageing your superpower. Therapist Emma Kirkby-Geddes shares how she’s been struggling to accept the passage of time. Gerontologist Dr Kerry Burnight, and Jacqueline Hooton, a personal trainer and ‘ageing well’ coach, offer advice.
Research tells us that girls tend to disengage from politics before the age of 16, just as boys seem to grow in confidence. Academics at Roehampton University have looked into this and have created a programme aimed at Year 9 students, in an attempt to re-engage teenage girls in issues that matter to them and boost their confidence to speak politically. Professor Bryony Hoskins has created G-EPIC (Gender Empowerment through Politics in the Classroom) and Rachel Burlton is a teacher at Mulberry School for Girls in London who has been teaching the programme.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m0027ld2)
Video Shops
With physical media sales on the rise and streaming fatigue setting in, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the life, death and rebirth of the video shop.
Ellen takes a trip to one of the UK's few remaining stores, 20th Century Flicks in Bristol, which has a strong claim to being the longest-running video shop in the world, first opening in 1982. She speaks to manager Dave Taylor about the evolution of the shop over the last 43 years, and finds out how he feels about how video shop clerks have been depicted on screen.
Mark talks to American filmmaker Alex Ross Perry about his new essay film Videoheaven, which explores the history of videotape as a medium and video stores as physical locations, told entirely through their depiction in film and TV shows.
And Mark also speaks to writer and producer Kate Hagen about her search for the world's last great video stores.
Produced by Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:45 Larkin Revisited (m0019z4s)
Talking in Bed
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode 3:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem Talking in Bed.
In Talking in Bed Larkin depicts a couple who are struggling to communicate - to find words 'at once true and kind,/ Or not untrue and not unkind.' Does this poem still speak to us meaningfully about the difficulty of intimate relationships?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
TUE 12:00 Archive on 4 (m0025ss6)
Prisoners, Saints and Persuaders: The World of ITC
Return of the Saint star Ian Ogilvy tells the story of Lew Grade's ITC company, which revolutionised British television in the 1960s and 70s. From espionage on the Riviera to surrealist thrillers filmed in Wales, and talking to actors, historians, producers and composers, this is a joyous celebration of ITC’s undoubtedly suave place in the history of pop culture.
Originally formed to produce upscale adventure, crime, espionage and sci-fi drama series for commercial British TV and syndication around the world – shot in luxurious 35mm film and moving to full colour years before BBC television - ITC produced an incredible catalogue of shows from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. They were stylishly produced, location driven, beautifully scored and often slightly surreal. Beginning in 1955 with the fantastically successful Adventures of Robin Hood (which employed Left-leaning American writers blacklisted by the McCarthy trials in the States), by the late 1950s ITC moved to modern Cold War espionage and crime drama, producing Danger Man two years before the James Bond film franchise was launched. Ian Fleming himself was an early consultant for the series.
Other action titles followed featuring gentleman adventurers and lone wolf agents from The Saint (Roger Moore) and The Baron (Steve Forrest) to Man in a Suitcase, Randal and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Champions, The Persuaders (Tony Curtis, Roger Moore) and finally Ian Ogilvy’s Return of the Saint, produced in 1978 and filmed across Italy and the South of France. A jewel in the ITC crown was Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner (1967) - a strange, psychedelic and psychologically intense series still hotly debated by fans.
Lew Grade was also the champion of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Supermarionation series of the 1960s – Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and others – a huge success for ITC and beloved by generations of children. The Muppets followed a decade later, as Lew gave Jim Henson his first break after Sesame Street. As ITC shifted focus towards film and away from television, the company took a slightly stranger turn in the early 1970s with live action sci-fi – including UFO and Space 1999 - before commissioning the genuinely eerie titles of the late 70s which marked the end of ITC’s great television era, distributing Sapphire and Steel (David McCallum and Joanna Lumley) and finally a partnership with Hammer Studios, the genuinely nasty Hammer House of Horror which substituted the Carpathian mountains for present day England.
The story of ITC is crucial to the story of television in Britain and the arrival of commercial TV as a challenge to the BBC's monopoly. While the BBC’s Reithian mission focused on British audiences, Lew Grade understood the new medium as a truly international one, and through sales to foreign markets ITC could command huge budgets to be reinvested in high-production values, art direction and rich, cinematic scoring.
With contributions from Lew’s nephew Lord Michael Grade, ITC actors Annette Andre and Jane Merrow, ITC composer John Cameron, conductor Gavin Sutherland, daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Dee Anderson, cultural historian Matthew Sweet, television writer and former Dr Who show-runner Steven Moffat, founder of Trunk Records and curator Jonny Trunk, BFI television historian Dick Fiddy and Jaz Wiseman, author of ITC Entertained the World.
Presented by Ian Ogilvy
Produced by Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002nv55)
Iranians protest amidst currency crisis
Iranians protest as the country's economic crisis deepens. We'll get a briefing from Tehran and from our Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet. Also in the programme, Eurostar cancels all trains through the Channel Tunnel and an AI breakthrough promises more effective personalised treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
TUE 13:45 An Almanac for Anxiety: In Search of a Calmer Mind (m001np8k)
Episode 2 - Wood
Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the UK, with nearly a fifth of people experiencing it over the course of a year. Although it is often treated through medication, there are many alternative ways which are proving to be very effective in reducing anxiety amongst some people. In this series, we explore how connecting with the elemental forces of nature helps people with a range of mental illnesses to feel better. We also learn about the current academic research behind these methods.
In Episode 2 - Wood - we visit the Woodwork for Wellbeing Workshop in Bethnal Green, London where every Tuesday people with mental health issues spend time making things with wood. They find it to be very therapeutic and fun. And Professor Miles Richardson of the University of Derby shares research from Japan which shows that simply touching wood is calming.
Produced and Presented by Helen Needham
Research by Anna Miles and Maud Start
Original Music by Anthony Cowie
Mixed by Ron McCaskill
A BBC Scotland Production made in Aberdeen for BBC Radio 4
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002nv57)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002nv59)
Almonds and Raisins
Series 2: Episode 1
The Sandberg's have set up a life in the Jewish ghetto of Strangeways, Manchester. David, now in his twenties, has become a breadwinner for the family and is in a relationship with his childhood sweetheart Miriam. They are expected to marry but with the Great War looming, troubling times lie ahead. When David's younger brother Sammy makes a bold decision, it falls to David to save him.
DAVID.....Ashley Margolis
MIRIAM.....Lilit Lesser
SAMMY.....Alastair Michael
SARAH.....Emma Leah Golding
RACHEL.....Leah Marks
SIGMUND and RABBI LENSKY.....Jack Wagman
ISAAC and DR SMOLENSKY ....Richard Katz
BESSIE.....Helen Reuben
Written by Adam Usden based on a novel by Maisie Mosco
Directed by Nadia Molinari
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes
Technical Producers: Andrew Garratt, Sam Dickinson
Assistant Technical Producer: Amritleen Rhandawa
Production Co-ordinator: Ben Hollands
Casting Manager: Alex Curran
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:00 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m002nv5c)
Series 4
53. Elizabeth Cook - Body Snatcher
Lucy Worsley is back with a new series of Lady Killers, where true crime meets history - with a twist.
In this episode, Lucy travels back to 1831 to Aldgate, then a poor part of East London, to investigate Elizabeth Cook, an Irish woman with a dark criminal background. When Elizabeth’s new lodger, an elderly peddler called Caroline Walsh, goes missing with no sign of her body, suspicions are high. When Elizabeth is discovered selling Caroline’s clothes, she is accused of her murder by her own son in court.
With Lucy to find out more about the case of Elizabeth Cook is Jaswant Narwal, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for London North, and the person who would prosecute this case if it came to court today. Jaswant shares her 35 years of experience prosecuting homicides, including ‘no body’ cases.
Lucy is also joined by historian Professor Rosalind Crone and they visit Aldgate to find out more about Elizabeth Cook and Caroline Walsh. They also go to the site of the Royal London Hospital to discuss the grisly fate of many of London’s missing persons in the early 19th century.
Lucy wants to know what this case tells us about the lives of poor women in London in the 1830s. Can someone today be accused of murder if there is no body? Would Elizabeth Cook’s case go to court today and, if it did, what might the outcome be?
Producer: Jane Greenwood
Readers: Clare Corbett, Jonathan Keeble and Ruth Sillers
Sound design: Chris Maclean
Executive producer: Kirsty Hunter
A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 Heart and Soul (m002nv5f)
The Lord and Dance: Michael Flatley
Michael Flatley is the most famous Irish dancer in the world, rising to stardom for his leading roles in Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. In this Heart and Soul Christmas special, Colm Flynn travels to meet Flatley at home, where he reflects on the highs of his remarkable career and the personal experiences that shaped his outlook on life and faith.
Born in Chicago to Irish parents, Flatley grew up surrounded by music, dance, and the values of hard work and perseverance. His groundbreaking performance in Riverdance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 brought Irish dance to a global audience, and his later productions redefined what Irish traditional dance could be. Yet, as he explains in this conversation, the drive to succeed came with challenges — moments of exhaustion, doubt, and the constant search for meaning beyond the stage.
In recent years, Michael Flatley’s life was upended when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. This caused him to stop and re-evaluate everything in his life. He tells Colm Flynn how it deepened his faith and sense of gratitude. He describes the diagnosis as a moment that forced him to re-examine what truly matters: family, love, and belief in God. “I am a man of faith and I surrender to the Lord,” he says, recalling how prayer and reflection sustained him through treatment and recovery.
In this interview, Michael looks back on the extraordinary journey from a young boy in Chicago with a passion for Irish dance to one of the most recognised performers in the world, and how, through it all, faith remained a quiet but steady presence guiding his path.
Producer/Presenter: Colm Flynn
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002nv5h)
The Poetry Detective
Are the Kids Alright?
Vanessa Kisuule unearths the poems that speak to the big issues we are grappling with. This week, it's raising teens
How might we equip kids for a future, that we adults are struggling to get our heads around? In this media-saturated, politically-divided, ecologically threatened landscape, how can we raise resilient, happy children? And what, if anything, can poetry do to help us along the way?
With poets Matthew Guenette, Jackie Kay and Steven Camden (aka Polar Bear), Valerie Kinloch, author of June Jordan: Her Life and Letters... and some obliging kids.
Produced in Bristol by Ellie Richold
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002nv5k)
Is joy always good for us?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken try to get to the bottom of the ideas shaping our health and wellbeing.
In this festive episode, they turn their attention to joy. What actually is joy, and how is it different from happiness or pleasure? Why do some people seem to feel it more intensely, and does that make them more vulnerable to the emotional lows that can follow? They also ask whether we should really be striving for joy all the time, and whether its very fleeting nature is part of what makes it valuable.
To help them untangle the science, psychology and meaning of joy, they’re joined by Professor Sophie Scott CBE, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London.
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 Sophie Scott
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: Ruth Rainey
At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 17:00 PM (m002nv5m)
A day of chaos as Eurostar and Eurotunnel trains are cancelled
Tens of thousands of passengers disrupted as Eurostar and Eurotunnel trains cancelled. Also, the hunt for missing plane MH370, and Clive Anderson on talk show do’s and dont’s.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv5p)
Channel Tunnel confusion, chaos and cancellations
Thousands of travellers have their New Year plans disrupted by a power failure that closed the Channel Tunnel. Alaa Abd El-Fattah, the British-Egyptian activist who apologised yesterday for historical social media posts, is alleged to have endorsed new claims that he is the victim of a "smear campaign" initiated by Zionists and spies. Plus the world's oldest professional footballer – 58-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura in Japan – joins a new club.
TUE 18:15 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vlk1)
Series 1
The Heege Manuscript
There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Flo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.
In this programme Ian is at the National Library of Scotland to see a manuscript that is unique in British comedy history. It actually describes the set of a 15th century entertainer who performed for audiences in Nottinghamshire at the time of the Wars of the Roses. The secrets of the Heege manuscript, which used to be part of a huge Medieval collection owned by Sir Walter Scott, were unearthed by Dr James Wade who shows Ian around the well-thumbed document. It was written out by a Richard Heege who, he claims, was able to report on what he saw because he was the only person sober enough to do so. He gives us examples of comedy routines including the hunt for a killer rabbit, a comedy sermon and a nonsense verse about a village fair. It's as near an eye-witness account as we have of a jester in action.
Producer: Tom Alban
TUE 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m002nv5r)
Series 3
7. The Most Dangerous Top Hat in the World
Frank Skinner and guests Lucy Porter, Anna Thomas, Finlay Christie and Daliso Chaponda discuss giant frogs, redundant tingles and being unexpectedly Danish.
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. An all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad and 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. 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 (m002nv5t)
At the Rewilding, Alice is hoping for a photo as Rex points out the beavers handy work, before wondering how Alice really feels about Chris looking for a new partner. She admits it’s difficult, the idea of Chris moving on, then realises that’s what she needs to do and work out what she really wants, which might include having another child.
Before going to work Jazzer tells Brad to take care of Amber. Amber didn’t sleep well, due to George texting constantly, and asks Brad what she should do. He offers to be with her as a friend, but Amber wants him to be more than that. They’re interrupted by George hammering at the door, then trying to force his way past Brad, before Amber calls to let him in. George then apologises to Amber for flipping out, claiming that’s not who he really is. The counselling will help sort him out. Amber calls him out on the disgusting things he said to his family. George reckons it was all true, but doesn’t care about them anymore. He wants a fresh start with Amber, somewhere else. Amber says she’s not going with him, before Brad tells George to leave her alone. George accuses Brad of wanting Amber for himself, mocking him cruelly until Brad launches himself at George. Whereupon Jazzer intervenes, threatening to do some serious damage to George, who slinks off, with Amber saying she’d rather be with Brad and doesn’t know why she ever wanted to marry him.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002nv5w)
Joachim Trier on Sentimental Value, plus the films of Brigitte Bardot
Director Joachim Trier on his latest film Sentimental Value, which is nominated for eight Golden Globes, including Best Picture and Best Director.
We take a look at the late Brigitte Bardot's three most important films, with critic Muriel Zhaga
Writer John Lloyd on the 42nd anniversary release of The Meaning of Liff, the book he co-wrote with Douglas Adams.
Ahead of a memorial concert for the late great pianist Alfred Brendel, Samira is joined by his son, the cellist Adrian Brendel, and the pianist Dame Imogen Cooper.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Oliver Jones
TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002nv5y)
Can cash grants help end homelessness?
Do you give homeless people cash? Many people fear any donation will be misspent but a ground-breaking study in the UK is currently recruiting 125 homeless people to receive a large one-off cash payment, paid directly to them. There's no restrictions on what they can buy with the money. It can be used for anything, it’s entirely up to the individual how they choose to spend it. The aim of the project is to see if it will help people move on from homelessness for good. With exclusive access to the ongoing study, Michael Buchanan follows some of those who’ve been given the cash to see how the money is being spent and what impact it‘s having on their lives.
Reporter: Michael Buchanan
Producers: Emma Forde and Rob Byrne
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002nv60)
The Year in Review: Benefits & Access to Work
At the end of what has been a rather eventful year in the world of visual impairment, In Touch assembles a panel of guests with varying personal and professional experience of visual impairment, to discuss the events and where it leads us. This programme is part one of two of the discussion, which starts with benefits and Access to Work.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.
TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002nv62)
When Christian nationalists come to town
People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with the aim of forging an 'aligned' community based on shared values like 'faith, family and freedom'. Two of the first people to come to town are controversial Christian nationalists who talk about civilisational collapse and the 'imperative for like-minded Christians to gather and fight'.
Their extreme views on women, civil rights and the role of the Church have attracted the attention of critics both locally and further afield. In Gainesboro itself, a resistance movement has formed, and the battle lines have been drawn.
This small town of 900 people has become a symbol of the next frontier of America’s political warfare. Is the new development a haven for hate and extremism, with the newcomers looking to take over local power? Or are they just conservative businessmen catering to a renewed demand for the rural, traditional lifestyle? What actually is Christian nationalism? And what is it like for the locals, whose little town has been thrust into the spotlight? Ellie House reports from Gainesboro, Tennessee.
Presenter: Ellie House
Producer: Mike Wendling
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Penny Murphy
TUE 21:30 Ramblings (m002d8v7)
Camino Inglés with Jannine and Sally
Clare is walking on the Camino Inglés today with Jannine Stoodley who is pushing her mother, Sally, in an off-road wheelchair. This entire series of Ramblings is themed around the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage trails that stretch across western Europe and converge on the world famous Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in northern Spain.
The Camino Inglés, or the English Way, is one of these trails. It has two starting points, either at Ferrol which is 119km, or A Coruña which is 75km from Santiago de Compostela. Because the distance required for a Compostela certificate is 100km, the Ferrol route is most popular.
Jannine and Sally are taking the path from A Coruña, and hope to finish their adventure at the Cathedral on Sally’s 85th birthday. Sally suffered a debilitating stroke in 2023, and had been admitted to a hospice for end of life care. But, incredibly, Sally rallied and recovered saying “I’m not ready to die yet” and was eventually able to return home. However she could no longer walk for long distances, which had always a passion, so Jannine found a robust wheelchair that Sally could be pushed in, and set off to walk the Camino.
They have already completed the Reading to Southampton route in England, which is an officially recognised section of the Camino; it’s a 68mile/109km path so when they complete the A Coruña, they will have surpassed the 100km needed to gain the coveted ‘Compostela’ completion certificate.
Clare met Jannine and Sally outside Restaurante Mar de Esteiro (What3Words: ///sweeter.jazz.lazing) which is around 11km out of Santiago de Compostela. They walked together on an often challenging route - especially when pushing a very heavy wheelchair across uneven terrain and up steep hills - for approx 10km.
Jannine and Sally let us know that they successfully completed the final stretch of their walk the following day, reaching the Cathedral on Sally's birthday. They are keen to make the kind of off-road wheelchairs that Sally uses available to others through Adversity to Adventure, see the 'related links' section on the Ramblings webpage.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
TUE 21:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002krgz)
The Hippopotamus
In this episode, Katherine Rundell turns her attention to the hippopotamus - a rare and elusive creature with a surprising history. Among the more unusual diplomatic gifts received by the Royal Family was a pair of pygmy hippos, presented to Queen Elizabeth by the President of Liberia. It’s part of a long tradition of impractical animal offerings, and a reminder of how animals have often been treated as curiosities rather than living beings under threat.
Rundell explores the myths and misunderstandings that surround hippos, from West African folklore that claims pygmy hippos carry diamonds in their mouths, to medieval bestiaries that imagined them snorting fire. In reality, they are quieter, stranger, and more graceful than legend suggests. Though they can’t swim, they move underwater by walking along riverbeds, and when they sleep underwater they rise to breathe without waking.
Hippos kill more people than sharks and lions combined; they are the world’s deadliest large land animal. Territorial and protective, they attack not for food but for safety. Yet despite their power, pygmy hippos are endangered. Habitat loss and hunting have pushed them towards extinction, and their shrinking numbers are a stark reminder of how even the most formidable animals can be brought low by human activity.
Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002nv64)
Anti-government protests spread for third day across Iran
The protests began on Sunday after shopkeepers in Tehran's Grand Bazaar staged a strike over the plunging value of the Iranian currency.
Now demonstrators are taking to the streets in an increasing number of cities across the country. Ali Rahmani, the son of Narges Mohammadi - a human rights activist who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize - tells us he hopes the demonstrations will lead to the collapse of the government.
Also on the programme: we relive the disastrous speech that saw Tony Blair heckled by 10,000 Women’s Institute members; and division in France over the legacy of film legend Brigitte Bardot.
TUE 22:45 A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín (m002nv66)
Episode Two
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Long Island.’ Read by Stanley Townsend.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves. Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter.
Author
Colm Tóibín is the author of several novels, including ‘The Master’, ‘Brooklyn’ and its sequel ‘Long Island’, and ‘The Magician’, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.
Reader: Stanley Townsend
Writer: Colm Tóibín
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Uncanny (m002nv68)
Series 5
Case 10: The Priest Hole
A family renovating an old house stumble upon a priest hole, a hidden chamber where Catholic priests took refuge in Elizabethan times.
But the strange discovery seems to signal a change in the atmosphere of the house. Has uncovering the priest hole unleashed something else?
Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Ben Machell and Dan Snow
Editing and sound design: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme music by Lanterns on the Lake
Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell
Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 BBC National Short Story Award (m002jgpc)
BBC National Short Story Award 2025
Rain: a history by Andrew Miller
Rain: a history is the first story in contention for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award. Toby Jones reads this tender and vivid story about a father who, along with his small rural community, is forced to confront a tragedy. The unseasonably warm and wet weather mirrors the unease which permeates everything.
The judges praised Miller’s ‘wonderful’, ‘precise’ and ‘elliptical’ writing which examines ‘the mystery of how we survive when our old structures of faith are eroded,’ and ends with a small, but hopeful act of connection.
Andrew Miller is the author of ten novels, including most recently The Land in Winter, which won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and is longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025. Andrew is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His novels have been awarded The James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the International IMPAC and the Costa Book of the Year amongst others.
The 2025 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on Thursday 11 September 2025 live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, as the prestigious award celebrates its 20th anniversary. The shortlist, featuring multi-award winning writers and ‘astonishing’ new talent, was praised for its ‘intimate,’ ‘elegant’ and ’nuanced’ explorations of relationships, community and the specificities of place set against a world in crisis.
Selected by a panel of previous winners and returning judges from across the Award’s 20-year history, the five-strong shortlist are: Costa Book of the Year 2011 and Booker Prize 2025 longlisted author Andrew Miller; multi-award winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Desmond Elliott Prize winning novelist and short story specialist Edward Hogan; and new names, British-Lebanese author Emily Abdeni-Holman, and Colwill Brown whose debut novel was published this year.
Set in locations from Derbyshire and Doncaster to Jerusalem and County Kildare, the stories explore ‘self-contained’ worlds often inspired by personal memories and experiences, from the complexities of marriage, to the mysteries of survival in crisis; from newly formed inter-generational bonds, to the quiet tension between people and place, each reveals the short story’s ‘unparalleled’ power to reflect ‘the times we are living through.’
For two decades this award has celebrated writers who are the UK’s finest exponents of the form. James Lasdun secured the inaugural Award in 2006 for ‘An Anxious Man’. In 2012 when the Award expanded internationally for one year, Miroslav Penkov was victorious for his story, ‘East of the West’. Last year, the Award was won by Ross Raisin for ‘Ghost Kitchen’, a tense, cinematic story narrated by a bicycle courier and inspired by the gig economy and the ‘dark kitchens’ of the restaurant industry.
In its 20-year history, Sarah Hall, K J Orr, Naomi Wood, Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, Clare Wigfall, Cynan Jones, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams and David Constantine have also carried off the Award with shortlisted authors including Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, William Trevor, Rose Tremain, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, K Patrick and Jacqueline Crooks.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Di Speirs who has sat on every judging panel since the Award’s inception and is joined by the very first chair of judges, William Boyd as well as former winners and shortlisted writers Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Kamila Shamsie.
In a time when literary awards come and go, and can struggle for funding and airtime, the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University continues to be a cause for joy
From 15th to 18th September four of the shortlisted stories can be heard at
3.30 each afternoon with the fifth story in contention for the award broadcasting on Friday, 19th September, at
11.30pm. The winner of the 20th BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday 30th September 2025.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
WEDNESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2025
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002nv6b)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:15 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (m0026993)
Independence
Raising Hare is Chloe Dalton’s memoir of caring for an abandoned leveret – and how the bond that grows between them changes her perspective on life.
Lockdown leads Chloe away from her demanding London job as a political advisor and back to the countryside of her childhood, where she stumbles across a lone baby hare - defenceless on an open country road. Against her better judgment, she feels compelled to take the tiny creature in and give it a chance at survival.
In the weeks and months that follow, a bond grows between hare and human as Chloe cares for the animal and prepares for it to return to the wild - the outcome she had always planned. The story grants us a rare insight into the lives of these elusive creatures, once thriving in the UK and now increasingly dwindling as their habitats recede and man-made threats advance.
In the third episode, the hare’s burgeoning independence continues to grow along with its young body. New rhythms in their curious relationship come to the fore, as the hare ranges further into the wild and Dalton begins to return to the city for work. She begins to feel the change of perspective that her four legged lodger has brought her in her professional and personal life.
Read by Lisa Faulkner
Produced and abridged by Jo Rowntree and Heather Dempsey
Sound Design by Dan King
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Illustration by Denise Nestor
This is an EcoAudio certified production.
Find all the latest books at the bottom of the Sounds homepage. Just click on the Books collection.
WED 00:30 Larkin Revisited (m0019z2q)
Toads Revisited
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode four:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem Toads Revisited.
Larkin's image of the toad as a metaphor for the burden of work appears in his poem Toads - but in Toads Revisited the 'toad work' becomes a kind of crutch, helping the poet 'down Cemetery Road'. Does the image of the 'toad' still work for us today, as Larkin intended?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nv6d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nv6g)
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 (m002nv6j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 Flight of the Vulture (m0029yxr)
With their fearsome talons, acid poo and a penchant for rotting carcasses, the vulture has long been shouldered with associations of death, and dishonour. This taboo often puts them bottom of the list for conservation projects. Nevertheless, they are a keystone animal in every environment they live in. And in nearly every one, they're in trouble.
Conservationist Sacha Dench travels visits three different vulture species, each with an extraordinary story of persecution and survival.
In India, vulture populations collapsed by 99.9%, the sharpest decline of any animal ever recorded, in the 'Indian Vulture Crisis'. Debbie Pain and Chris Bowden describe the urgent international collaborative effort that brought them back from the very brink of extinction.
In South Africa, the White Backed Vulture has become collateral damage in the ongoing war between poachers and game-keepers. Sacha meets Kerri Wolter and Alistair Sinclair of Vulpro, the organisation that’s rescuing and rehabilitating these innocent bystanders.
Finally, in Guinea-Bissau, vultures are the victim of cultural practices which see their bodies as having magical properties. Sacha talks to Jose Tavares from the Vulture Conservation Foundation, and Andre Botha from the IUCN Vulture Group, who reveals the cultural practices which put the birds at risk.
Flight of the Vulture was presented by Sacha Dench, and produced by Emily Knight
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nv6l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nv6n)
A Trumpet at Midnight
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good morning. When I was younger I learnt to play the trumpet. On the turn of the millennium, our family travelled to Galway to go to a huge party hosted by extended family.I had learnt to play Auld Lang Syne, and it was agreed I could play the trumpet at midnight.
However I was only 10, and I fell asleep midway through the evening. Knowing how hard I’d practised, my mum shook me awake at 5 to 12. I jumped up and grabbed my trumpet. With less than a minute to midnight, my uncle offered me a sip of his champagne and I accepted. After one sip of the bubbles for some reason my nose began to bleed. But ever the professional, I played Auld Lang Syne while blood dripped down my face, my trumpet, my outfit and unto the floor!
Since then, my New Years eves have been somewhat less exciting. For many of them, I’ve gone to bed and slept my way to the next calendar year.
One American study suggested that between 20-30% of people won’t bother staying awake to see in 2026. My sister agrees and thinks it’s crazy to stay up to midnight knowing the first day of the year she’d tired and grouchy.Maybe it comes down to whether you’re a morning lark or night owl?
Perhaps there is no need for a moral judgement on whether getting up early or staying up late is better. Instead, we could take our lead from Jesus who took time to be with his father God, whether it was early in the morning or late at night.
Father God,
Thank you for the blessings and joy we have received this year. As the New Year dawns, help us rededicate our hearts and our minds to you.
Amen
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002nv6q)
31/12/25 Cider Apple DNA
Sarah Swadling finds out about a quest to save our hidden cider orchard heritage using DNA testing.
Work is being carried out in orchards to DNA fingerprint cider apple trees to identify varieties whose names died with the people who created them, or were never named. Keith Edwards, Professor of Crop Genetics at Bristol University, has been working with Devon cider-maker Barny Butterfield on the project. So far they've leaf sampled more than 10,000 trees on the hunt for DNA markers which aren't found in any of the national collections of apple trees, but are repeated in other historic cider orchards (so they're more significant than a lone tree grown from a pip). The aim: to secure the future of forgotten cider apple varieties, with the rediscovered trees being grown on from cuttings to preserve them for the future.
Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling.
WED 06:00 Today (m002nv87)
Theresa May Guest Edits Today
Former Prime Minister Theresa May is the sixth and final Today guest editor this year.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m002nv8c)
Numbers of the Year 2025
From the number of women in space and transistors on a chip to social media usage -we’re taking a look back the key numerical moments of 2025. We explore the woes of a big infrastructure projects. Plus, just how can you make sure your New Year’s Resolutions are successful? We’ve got statistics to help.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeil
Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Katie Solleveld
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Mix: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m002nv8h)
Two Nottingham Lads
2. Damascus to Donetsk
Aiden Aslin and Graham Philips take very different routes to get to that prison in Donetsk in 2022 – but their journeys cemented their destinies in Ukraine.
For Aiden, his evolution from young truant to soldier takes place in the crucible of war in Syria – volunteering for the free Kurdish forces fighting against ISIS. But after trouble with the British state on his return, another conflict called: Ukraine. Aiden’s time fighting in the Donbas war confirms his commitment to the country, and leads to him being at the heart of some terrifying events.
Meanwhile, Graham is becoming ever more entrenched in his views. In the mid 2010s, his dispatches from the frontline of the Donbas war are becoming more vitriolic, but also more ambitious. He is going further down the rabbit hole, and finding more and more followers in the process – people eager to see the war up close from his unique perspective. This former stand-up comedian is finding his calling – and it will ultimately change his life entirely.
As 2022 draws near, the soldier and the independent journalist are operating just miles apart, both sensing that the regional trench war is about to erupt into all out conflict.
Presenter: Paul Kenyon
A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002nv8m)
Toni Collette, Women of the Year, Disciplining children
Since her big break in Muriel’s Wedding 30 years ago, actor Toni Collette has graced our screens in a huge list of standout roles from The Sixth Sense to Hereditary, Little Miss Sunshine to Mickey 17. She joins Kylie Pentelow to discuss her latest film, Goodbye June. The emotional directorial debut from Kate Winslet tackles themes of love, loss and Christmas as a fractious family come together to sit vigil for the family matriarch, played by Helen Mirren.
It’s the last day of the year and always a good time to reflect on the inevitable ups and downs that any year can hold for all of us. But what about the people in your life who have particularly impacted you this year. Who have been the women – close to you or maybe not – who have been significant for you? Friends, family, public figures? Kylie is joined by Olympic rower Dame Katherine Grainger – currently the chairwoman of the British Olympic Association (BOA), Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic and Natalie Haynes - author of six novels and broadcaster in her own right.
We all have to juggle money, but are we spending it in ways that actually bring us joy or cause us anxiety? We revisit The Woman’s Hour Guide to Life episode on Challenging Your Money Mindset and dig into spending habits and explore how to align your money choices with the life you really want. Nuala McGovern speaks to journalist and author Anniki Sommerville, Claer Barrett, Consumer Editor at the Financial Times and host of the Money Clinic podcast, and Abigail Foster, chartered accountant and author of The Money Manual.
With the Christmas school break in full swing, perhaps your house has been full of children. But what do you do when someone else’s child begins to act up? Do you tell them off or simply put up with the behaviour until you can hand them back to their parents?
Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Corinna Jones
WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002nv5y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002nv8s)
29th December to 4th January
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
This week: 29th December to 4th January
31st December 1600 - Queen Elizabeth I grants The East India Company a Royal Charter.
29th December 1170 - The death of Thomas Becket.
4th January 1912 - The Boy Scouts Association is granted its Royal Charter by King George V.
Presented by Ron Brown and Jane Steel.
WED 11:45 Larkin Revisited (m0019z93)
High Windows
Across ten programmes and ten poems, Simon Armitage, the poet laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits Philip Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode five:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem 'High Windows'.
'High Windows' was described by one reviewer as speaking 'plainly of a feeling of exclusion from sexual happiness’. But does its swearing, and its transcendent imagery - 'the deep blue air' - still hold a charge for us today?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
WED 12:00 Archive on 4 (m002b6k1)
Masters of the Impossible
"You felt like the ground shifted beneath you. It felt like nothing was explainable. It wasn't like seeing normal magic."
Join psychologist and magician Professor Richard Wiseman on a journey into the strange world of mentalism or mind magic, and meet a group of entertainers who produce the seemingly impossible on demand. Discover "The Amazing" Joseph Dunninger, Britain's Maurice Fogel ("the World's Greatest Mind Reader"), husband and wife telepathic duo The Piddingtons, and the self-styled "Psycho-Magician", Chan Canasta.
These entertainers all set the scene for one man who redefined the genre - the extraordinary David Berglas. This International Man of Mystery astonished the world with incredible stunts - hurtling blindfold down the famous Cresta toboggan run in Switzerland, levitating a table on the streets of Nairobi, and making a piano vanish before hundreds of live concert goers. Berglas was a pioneer of mass media magic, constantly appeared on the BBC radio and TV, captivated audiences the world over and inspired many modern-day marvels, including Derren Brown.
For six decades, Berglas entertained audiences worldwide on stage and television, mentoring hundreds of young acts and helping to establish mentalism or mind magic as one of the most popular forms of magical entertainment, helping to inspire the likes of Derren Brown, Dynamo and David Blaine. The originator of dozens of illusions still performed by celebrated performers worldwide, Berglas is renowned for his version of a classic illusion known as Any Card at Any Number or ACAAN, regarded by many as the 'holy grail' of magic tricks and something that still defies explanation.
With the help of some recently unearthed archive recordings, Richard Wiseman, a member of the Inner Magic Circle, and a friend of David Berglas, explores the surreal history of mentalism, its enduring popularity and the life and legacy of the man many regard as Master of the Impossible.
Featuring interviews with Andy Nyman, Derren Brown, Stephen Frayne, Laura London, Teller, Chris Woodward, Martin T Hart and Marvin Berglas,
With special thanks to Martin T Hart and the Berglas Family for help with archive material and to David Britland for additional research.
Thanks also to Laura London for use of the 2023 recording of David Berglas.
Image of David Berglas courtesy of Zakary Belamy
Presented by Professor Richard Wiseman
Produced by Rami Tzabar
Assistant Producer is Simon Smith
Mixing by Richard Courtice
A TellTale Industries production for BBC Radio 4
WED 13:00 World at One (m002nv8x)
Hunt family bravery prompts Queen to share assault story
In an interview with the Today programme Queen Camilla told others to share their experience of violence against women and girls. Harriet Harman joins us to discuss. Also: Israel suspends 37 aid groups from operating in Gaza. Former UN aid chief Martin Griffiths says it will have a 'significant' impact. And 2025 was the first year of 'Generation Beta', what will life look like for them in the future?
WED 13:45 An Almanac for Anxiety: In Search of a Calmer Mind (m001nvp1)
Episode 3 - Water
Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the UK, with nearly a fifth of people experiencing it over the course of a year. Although it is often treated through medication, there are many alternative ways which are proving to be very effective in reducing anxiety amongst some people. In this series, we explore how connecting with the elemental forces of nature helps people with a range of mental illnesses to feel better. We also learn about the current academic research behind these methods.
In Episode 3 - Water - we join a group of socially prescribed outdoor swimmers on Teignmouth Beach in Devon who find joy in immersing themselves in cold water. We also hear why spending time around blue spaces is so effective at promoting a sense of calm from Dr Catherine Kelly of the University of Brighton.
Produced and Presented by Helen Needham
Research by Anna Miles and Maud Start
Original Music by Anthony Cowie
Mixed by Ron McCaskill and Malcolm Torrie
A BBC Scotland Production made in Aberdeen for BBC Radio 4
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002nv5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002nv92)
Snow White’s Radio Drama Romance
Following Rumpelstiltskin's Radio Drama Romance, former Head of BBC Radio Drama, Gordon House has written and directed a new play - Snow White’s Radio Drama Romance. Once more the lives of the production team and the actors are as important - and oddly relevant - as the story of Snow White, who here becomes the possible prey of the Big Bad Wolf.
The play revolves around producer Graham, who is attempting to cope with his own disorderly private life and imminent retirement. With him are a depressed technical producer whose boyfriend has just left her, a writer whose home has been burgled, an actor with a drink problem and a BBC executive who makes a thoroughly ill-timed visit to the recording. Meantime, in the pantomime, Snow White not only has to avoid eating her wicked aunt's apple but also has to avoid being eaten by a charismatic but rapacious wolf.
Jon Strickland stars as Graham, Neil Summerville plays both King Horace and his brother, the hapless Royal Soothsayer. Alan Bennett makes a cameo appearance as The Voice of the Mirror. David Chilton provides the music links and the play is produced by Lucinda Mason Brown.
Cast:
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Graham . . . . . Jon Strickland
Jeremy . . . . . Clive Hayward
Tashelle . . . . . Rakie Ayola
Jenny . . . . . Abbie Andrews
THE ACTORS
King/Royal Soothsayer/Neil . . . . . Neil Summerville
Witch/Morgana/Briony . . . . . Tracy Wiles
Snow White/Maisie/Clara . . . . . Kitty O’Sullivan
Wolf/Jolly/Wil . . . . . Will Howard
With Alan Bennett as The Voice of the Mirror.
Crew:
Technical Producer: Andrew Garratt
Sound Designers: Lucinda Mason Brown and David Chilton
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Director: Gordon House
An Essential production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002nv44)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
WED 15:30 What Is Quantum? (m002nv51)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 The Ideas List (m0026vvj)
3. Intrusive Memories
Thirty years ago years ago, in March 1995, a fresh-faced Claudia Hammond arrived at the BBC for a job interview as a trainee science producer. She put together a comprehensive list of science and health stories, ready to pitch at the interview. In this quirky, personal journey, Claudia revisits five ideas from her Ideas List to find out what happened next. She tracks each headline-grabbing story forward through the false-starts and dead ends, the surprises and successes. And she asks what each tale teaches us about the tortuous path of scientific progress.
In this episode Claudia goes back to an idea which she had heard about from a friend. Philippa Hyman had been a fellow psychology student and housemate at university. And now she was working as a research assistant on a project run by Chris Brewin at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Chris’s research has been key to our understanding of PTSD. One of the symptoms of PTSD is unpleasant or difficult memories which come to mind involuntarily and repeatedly, These intrusive memories can also occur in people with depression and, in the study Philippa was working on, they explored the association between intrusive memories and depression in a group of people who were facing challenging life circumstances – in this case a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Thirty years on, Claudia meets Prof. Chris Brewin to reflect on a study which highlighted the vital importance of considering cancer patients’ psychological needs alongside their treatment.
Today, Dr. Philippa Hyman works in exactly this area, providing psychological support for patients in London. She and Claudia - still good friends - look back to her role interviewing patients for Chris’s original study and consider how far we’ve moved on in embedding that parallel approach – body and mind together – in medical practice.
And Sharon-Ann Phillips, who in 2015 was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, shares her experience of intrusive memories and how psychological support has helped her to overcome negative thoughts and images and change her perspective on life.
Producers: Florian Bohr and Jeremy Grange
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002nv99)
How to Make a Hit TV Show
Have you ever wondered how reality TV gets made? Why some shows become instant classics, while others vanish without trace?
In this special edition of The Media Show, four of the UK’s top creatives in unscripted television reveal their secrets. From The Traitors to Pointless, Hunted to Gogglebox, they discuss what makes a hit format, how casting decisions are made, how streamers and influencers are changing the landscape, and where the next big hit might come from.
Guests: Tim Harcourt, Chief Creative Officer, Studio Lambert; Matt Bennett, Director of Programmes, Shine Television; Tamara Gilder, Joint MD, Remarkable Entertainment; Art Sejdiu, Head of Commissioning Development, Channel Four.
Presenters: Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall
Producer: Dan Hardoon
WED 17:00 PM (m002nv9d)
Britain prepares for the New Year
We write 2025 into the history books and have a political look ahead to 2026. As the Queen praises of the bravery of John Hunt's family and raises her own experience of an assault, we hear from her friend Baroness Kennedy. Plus - a live rendition of Auld Lang Syne, and the joys of winter walks.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv9j)
Queen praises Hunt family's bravery after triple murders
Queen Camilla has praised the courage of BBC racing commentator John Hunt and his family - after his wife, Carol, and two daughters, Louise and Hannah, were killed by Louise's ex-partner.
Israel's ban on almost 40 aid agencies working in Gaza and the West Bank is described as "unacceptable" by countries including the UK. The Israelis say the organisations must vet their staff more thoroughly.
Plus: our political editor Chris Mason reflects on the prospects for Labour and the Prime Minister in 2026.
WED 18:15 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vsb8)
Series 1
Animals
There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Jo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.
This time Ian is in Aberdeen to see the University's famous Bestiary, a Medieval manuscript so richly illuminated that it attracted Henry VIII who borrowed it, permanently from its original home somewhere in the North of England. Now it resides in Aberdeen University's new library, complete with its illustrations and sermons about animals. It's all very straight, until you reach the Bonnacon, a mythical beast that appears to have no biblical message beyond its capacity to make the reader laugh. Ian also takes advice on our abiding comic relationship with animals from Nina Conti and Monkey, with whom she shares a sometimes fractious but always funny relationship.
Producer: Tom Alban
WED 18:30 Unite (m001ngpy)
Series 2
Life and Death
Tony is upset that his family seem to have forgotten his 60th birthday but is then even more aggrieved when he finds out Imogen's planned a surprise party.
Ashley attends his Nan’s funeral and is reunited with his Mum for the first time in years and Imogen’s mother arrives to offer Gideon and Rebecca unwanted advice on childbirth.
Last in the series of 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
Geraldine - Isla Blaire
Heather - Ashley McGuire
Little Dicky - Barry Castagnola
Eileen - Ruth Bratt
Stefan/Barber - Naz Osmanoglu
Written by Barry Castagnola, Elliot Steel and Ian Pearce
(additional material from the cast)
Executive Producer- Mario Stylianides
Producer/Director- Barry Castagnola
Sound Recordist and Editor- Jerry Peal
Broadcast Assistant - Alex Lynch
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 (m002nv18)
Emma and Ed are about to go The Bull for New Year’s Eve when they realise Keira’s not there. They find a note saying she can’t stay there any longer and wishing George was back in prison. Fearing the worst, Ed blames George for tearing the family apart.
Lilian and Tracy have been distributing free bottles of wine they were given after winning the Best Local Pub award, before George bursts in through the door, drunkenly demanding to be served and then mocking Kenton’s fear of dogs. Alice tries to reason with George before Brian takes hold of him and George sends Brian stumbling backwards. Tracy takes George aside, threatening to get the likes of Harrison to throw him out. George then beats a retreat, sarcastically wishing them all a Happy New Year. Lilian is full of praise for Tracy, while Alice reflects knowingly on George’s drunken state, before they hear the news that Keira is missing.
Alice goes outside and stops George from throwing a rock through the window, reminding him he promised to be a better person. He tells her the terrible things he’s said and done to his family and Alice responds in kind. But despite all that her family have forgiven her. His family will too, but he has to earn their forgiveness. George is stunned that Alice is being so helpful, agreeing to go and talk to his mum. But as George walks home, shouting defiantly that he’ll prove everyone wrong, he’s smashed over the head with a bottle and falls to the ground.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002nv9n)
Hogmanay live from Glasgow with Belle & Sebastian
As Scottish indie pop legends Belle & Sebastian prepare to celebrate 30 years of musicmaking, they look back at what got them here. Plus they help ring in the new year with a Rabbie Burns classic.
Jamaica’s former Poet Laureate Lorna Goodison reflects on her recent residency at Ellisland Farmhouse, where Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne.
Award-winning Scottish poet and spoken word artist Michael Mullen brought their debut collection Goonie in to the world this June. Now they share a poem written specially for Front Row, about the joys of Hogmanay.
Kirsty celebrates the life of Scottish comedian and impressionist Stanley Baxter, who passed away earlier this month aged 99. His productions became staples of Christmas and New Year television, as broadcaster and cultural historian Matthew Sweet discusses with actor Juliet Cadzow.
WED 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001mbmw)
Marvel vs DC: Contest of the Champions
Marvel and DC, the two titans of America superhero comics, have been locked in cosmic battle for over six decades - raging across publishing, radio, TV, movies, gaming and animation.
It’s one of the greatest rivalries in the history of pop culture, ferociously debated by generations of readers, fans and industry creatives alike.
While both companies are now worth billions, this wasn't always the case.
This feature goes back to their early comic book roots, where DC comics and young upstart Marvel both had offices in 1960s Manhattan - and yet differed widely in their approach to the genre, posing very distinct ideas of what our superheroes should be – and as a result, what it means to be human. Do we want to look up to the skies or do we really want to see a reflection of ourselves? Are our heroes other, outsiders like gods – or are they basically people like us, who gain strange powers but keep their flaws? Readers had a choice.
The creative rivalry between Marvel and DC comics has always been more than a question of sales or market share. It is a fascinating culture clash of ideals, morals and even politics. It has constituted one of the greatest post-war, pop-culture wars of our times.
For years DC Comics dominated the super-hero genre with its pulp tales of super-powered crime fighting, bright costumes and capes, shiny headquarters, secret identities and primary colours. Their heroes - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Flash, the Green Lantern – have a kind of mythic grandeur. But dig deeper, and there's another story. DC's creative department had its own secret identity, driven mostly by writers and artists who felt themselves to be at the margins of mainstream American society.
Marvel Comics in its modern form arrived later, in the early 1960s, a totally different cultural era. In every way the precocious new kid on the block, Marvel offered a widely different set of ideas about what superheroes ought to be - they would be like us. The tone was less authoritarian than the opposition, politically liberal under the stewardship of Stan Lee, tapping into the emerging counter-culture and creating a web of integrated characters (the ‘Marvel Universe’). Marvel heroes - Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four - lived in our world and suffered as we do. They had financial difficulties, dead-end jobs, romantic heartache, teenage angst, even drug addiction, suffered blindness, breakdown and divorce. They encountered street protest and the counter-culture, gang violence and organised racism. .
Each company watched the other. Each company tried to outdo the other, either on their own terms or – sometimes brilliantly - their opponents'. This is the comic-book bedrock upon which the blockbuster superhero movie franchises are currently fighting tooth and nail.
Talking to industry legends from both companies, artists, writers, experts and diehard fans, this Archive on 4, presented by documentary maker and lifelong Marvel and DC comics fan Simon Hollis, tells the story of the Greatest Battle on Earth.
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m002nv4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Ramblings (m002dpnl)
Arriving in Santiago de Compostela with Sharon, Shirley and friends
On Clare’s last day of walking sections of the Camino, she arrives into Santiago de Compostela with a wonderful group of friends who have been following the Portuguese route, starting in Vigo.
The women became friends after meeting in their local gym, and discovered they were all working their way through challenging personal issues. They decided they wanted to do something for themselves to celebrate both fitness and friendship… and their Camino adventure began. The route they chose was from Vigo to Santiago which is entirely in Spain, but forms the last 104km/65 miles of the Camino Portugues Coastal.
This is the What3Words location for where Clare met the group: ///petitioning.spokes.snail
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
WED 21:55 A Carnival of Animals (m002ks2z)
The Glow-worm
In this episode, Katherine Rundell explores the quiet brilliance of the glow-worm - a creature that once lit homes and battlefields, and now struggles to survive in a world flooded with artificial light. In 1590, long before electricity, a book suggested using glow-worms to illuminate the home. Centuries later, soldiers in the First World War used them to read maps and messages in the dark.
Despite its name, the common European glow-worm is not a worm but a bio-luminescent beetle. The female glows brightest, emerging on summer nights to attract a mate. Their larvae live for up to three years, feeding on slugs and snails much larger than themselves. With precision, they inject their prey with toxic proteins that paralyse and dissolve the body - a slow and silent hunt.
But glow-worms are now in decline. Light pollution confuses males during mating season, disrupting reproduction and driving numbers down. Rundell reflects on our ability to conjure light out of darkness - and warns that if we continue on our current path, we risk extinguishing the natural light that once shimmered in our fields and forests.
Written and presented by Katherine Rundell
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002nv9s)
Israel bars 37 aid organisations from Gaza
Israel is revoking the licences of 37 aid organisations working in Gaza, saying they failed to meet the requirements of new registration rules. The UK government is among those warning of the humanitarian impact the move could have. One resident of Gaza tells us of her fears.
Also on the programme:
With drones increasingly lighting up the skies at New Year’s celebrations, we hear a defence of the old-fashioned firework.
And looking back as punk turns 50.
WED 22:45 A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín (m002nv9w)
Episode Three
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Long Island.’ Read by Stanley Townsend.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves. Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter.
Author
Colm Tóibín is the author of several novels, including ‘The Master’, ‘Brooklyn’ and its sequel ‘Long Island’, and ‘The Magician’, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.
Reader: Stanley Townsend
Writer: Colm Tóibín
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002nvb0)
David Eagle: See No Eagle
3. The Anti-Social Accordionist
Armed with his trusty accordion, David shares the story of the long cold night where he was lost on the streets of Hartlepool with nothing but an accordion, and how he found his way back home.
Written and performed by David Eagle.
Editor: David Thomas
Production Co-ordinator: Jodie Charman
Producer: Rajiv Karia
WED 23:15 The Squid: Sketch a Minute (m002nvb4)
Rapid-fire sketch show featuring original comedy sketches from breakout online stars The Squid.
Taking listeners from Michaelangelo repainting his spare bedroom, to the Scooby Doo gang buying Velma contact lenses for her birthday, each sketch is a fun and unpredictable concept rooted in The Squid’s trademark dry humour.
The Squid are a Manchester-based comedy trio made up of writers/performers Liam Shaw, Zoe Freeman and Jack Holding. They have been creating one-minute-long comedy sketches for the last two years, which have gained them 151,000 followers on TikTok, 205,000 on Instagram, and 12 on Facebook.
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 BBC National Short Story Award (m002jf34)
BBC National Short Story Award 2025
Yair by Emily Abdeni-Holman
Emily Abdeni-Holman's lyrical story is up for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award. Centred around a young woman recently arrived in Jerusalem this understated story explores the relationship between people and place, power and vulnerability in a locale where history and belonging are so tangibly fraught. The reader is Isabelle Farah.
Emily Abdeni-Holman is a writer and critic. Her first book, Body Tectonic (Broken Sleep Books, 2024), on Lebanon’s socioeconomic crisis, is an experiment in exploring structural disaster through poetry.
The 2025 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on Thursday 11 September 2025 live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, as the prestigious award celebrates its 20th anniversary. The shortlist, featuring multi-award winning writers and ‘astonishing’ new talent, was praised for its ‘intimate,’ ‘elegant’ and ’nuanced’ explorations of relationships, community and the specificities of place set against a world in crisis.
Selected by a panel of previous winners and returning judges from across the Award’s 20-year history, the five-strong shortlist are: Costa Book of the Year 2011 and Booker Prize 2025 longlisted author Andrew Miller; multi-award winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Desmond Elliott Prize winning novelist and short story specialist Edward Hogan; and new names, British-Lebanese author Emily Abdeni-Holman, and Colwill Brown whose debut novel was published this year.
Set in locations from Derbyshire and Doncaster to Jerusalem and County Kildare, the stories explore ‘self-contained’ worlds often inspired by personal memories and experiences, from the complexities of marriage, to the mysteries of survival in crisis; from newly formed inter-generational bonds, to the quiet tension between people and place, each reveals the short story’s ‘unparalleled’ power to reflect ‘the times we are living through.’
For two decades this award has celebrated writers who are the UK’s finest exponents of the form. James Lasdun secured the inaugural Award in 2006 for ‘An Anxious Man’. In 2012 when the Award expanded internationally for one year, Miroslav Penkov was victorious for his story, ‘East of the West’. Last year, the Award was won by Ross Raisin for ‘Ghost Kitchen’, a tense, cinematic story narrated by a bicycle courier and inspired by the gig economy and the ‘dark kitchens’ of the restaurant industry.
In its 20-year history, Sarah Hall, K J Orr, Naomi Wood, Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, Clare Wigfall, Cynan Jones, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams and David Constantine have also carried off the Award with shortlisted authors including Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, William Trevor, Rose Tremain, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, K Patrick and Jacqueline Crooks.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Di Speirs who has sat on every judging panel since the Award’s inception and is joined by the very first chair of judges, William Boyd as well as former winners and shortlisted writers Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Kamila Shamsie.
In a time when literary awards come and go, and can struggle for funding and airtime, the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University continues to be a cause for joy
From 15th to 18th September four of the shortlisted stories can be heard at
3.30 each afternoon with the fifth story in contention for the award broadcasting on Saturday, 20th September, at
11.30pm. The winner of the 20th BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday 30th September 2025.
Reader by Isabelle Farah
Produced by Justine Willett
Abridged by Emily Abdeni-Holman and Justine Willett
THURSDAY 01 JANUARY 2026
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002nvb8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:15 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (m002692b)
Ultimate Trust
Raising Hare is Chloe Dalton’s memoir of caring for an abandoned leveret – and how the bond that grows between them changes her perspective on life.
Lockdown leads Chloe away from her demanding London job as a political advisor and back to the countryside of her childhood, where she stumbles across a lone baby hare - defenceless on an open country road. Against her better judgment, she feels compelled to take the tiny creature in and give it a chance at survival.
In the weeks and months that follow, a bond grows between hare and human as Chloe cares for the animal and prepares for it to return to the wild - the outcome she had always planned. The story grants us a rare insight into the lives of these elusive creatures, once thriving in the UK and now increasingly dwindling as their habitats recede and man-made threats advance.
In this penultimate episode, Dalton earns the creature’s ultimate trust as she is let in on a phase of the animal’s life that few humans have ever seen. The hare gives birth to three leverets of its own.
Read by Lisa Faulkner
Produced and abridged by Jo Rowntree and Heather Dempsey
Sound Design by Dan King
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Illustration by Denise Nestor
This is an EcoAudio certified production.
Find all the latest books at the bottom of the Sounds homepage. Just click on the Books collection.
THU 00:30 Larkin Revisited (m001b3z4)
To the Sea
Across ten programmes and ten poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits Philip Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode 6:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem 'To the Sea', a poem which describes how everything 'crowds under the low horizon' at the beach in high summer.
Larkin wrote once that holidays stemmed from 'a romantic notion that it will all be better at Frinton or Venice', but this is one of his most celebratory poems. Does 'To the Sea' still speak to us today?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nvbd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nvbj)
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 (m002nvbm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 More or Less (m002nv8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nvbs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nvbx)
A New Start Every Day
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good Morning.For any musical lovers out there, you’ll probably know the song- ‘Seasons of Love’ from Rent. It famously tells us there are five hundred, twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year. The song then questions what we’re going to do with all that time?
The 1st January feels like a new start. And we have all those minutes to fill wisely! We make resolutions to improve our lives, ourselves, our relationships . But lots of us have broken our resolutions by week two and feel like we’ve failed.
I was thinking about the Israelites in the desert who were given fresh manna each day. God sent new provision every morning. The manna would appear in the morning but could not be kept for the next day except on the sabbath. No matter how much each person gathered, everyone had just enough for what they needed.
Lamentations 3: says:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness".
The 1st of January is a new start, but so is the 2nd and the 3rd. Each day is a new start, another chance to experience all the things this incredible world has to offer as well as a chance to replenish our relationship with God. And if we haven’t considered him today, God gives us grace to try again tomorrow.
Or as Anne of Green Gables would say “tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it!”
Heavenly Father,
Thank you that your mercies are new every morning, that we can always come to you and you will provide. In 2026 we pray that you would renew our minds, our hearts, and our spirits. When we face challenges this coming year, grant us strength and courage. And help us remember we can always turn to you.
Amen
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002nvc1)
01/01/26 Isaac Fletcher's Farming Diaries
Historians in Cumbria are publishing extracts from the diary of an 18th century yeoman farmer.
The writings of Isaac Fletcher, who farmed at Mosser near Cockermouth, will be featured by the Cumbria County History Trust on their website every month. His diary provides a window onto life in rural Cumbria 250 years ago, and an insight for farmers who work the land there still.
Helen Millican meets two of Isaac's biggest fans, historian Angus Winchester and local farmer Mark Clark, who give her a tour of what would have been Isaac's farm.
You can read the diary in more detail by visiting The Farming Year Diary on the trust's website - https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk
Programme produced and presented by Helen Millican.
THU 06:00 Archive on 4 (m002nv0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
THU 07:00 Today (m002nv0w)
Including the launch of our Today's Babies series looking at parenthood of early years children across the UK.
(Image: Charlie Mackesy's illustration for Today's Babies)
THU 09:00 The Media Show (m002nv99)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002nv10)
Listeners' Strong Messages (with Stewart Lee)
It's New Year's day, so Armando and Stewart are dipping into the very real, physical listeners' mailbag.
In a loose and end-of-term episode, with some adult humour, we talk about the misuse of the phrase 'bad apples', Stewart thanks Armando for his leadership, and are treated to unexpected, slightly fruity, film reviews of 'Who Dares Wins' and 'Cats'.
We also hear about Armando's ambassador for 'pace', Stewart's artistic skills, and some alternatives to the phrase 'fighting age males'.
Got a strong message for Armando? Email us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk
Sound editing: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman and Giulia Mazzu
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Recorded at The Sound Company
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002nv12)
Woman's Hour celebrates the women of The Archers
It's 75 years to the day since The Archers first launched. Woman's Hour has come to Ambridge to celebrate the female characters who have helped this programme tackle some of the most challenging, contentious and sensitive issues affecting women.
Nuala McGovern is joined in The Archers studio at BBC Birmingham by writer Sarah Hehir, Dr Cara Courage from Academic Archers, who studies the social history behind the programme, Sunny Ormonde, who plays Lilian Bellamy, and we also hear from Emerald O'Hanrahan, who plays Emma Grundy. Times columnist and long time fan of The Archers Libby Purves shares a condensed history of the women of Ambridge. Nuala also gets a behind the scenes tour from Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth Archer, and Technical Producer Vanessa Nuttall.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Simon Richardson
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002nv14)
Ricky Gervais
Comedian and writer Ricky Gervais talks to John Wilson about his formative creative influences and inspirations. Ricky Gervais made his name as the co-creator and
star of The Office, the mock documentary series which became a landmark in British television comedy, and was shown all round the world. Further success followed with the comedy drama series Extras, Life’s Too Short and Afterlife, and awards including two Emmys, four Golden Globes and seven BAFTAs. Ricky Gervais has written and performed numerous solo stand-up shows around the world, the latest of which, Mortality, was filmed for Netflix and has just earned him a tenth Golden Globe nomination.
Gervais tells John Wilson about his early comic influences including Laurel and Hardy, Fawlty Towers and Derek and Clive, the foul-mouthed drunken alter egos created by comedy duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore on three, largely improvised, spoken-word albums recorded in the 1970s. He also talks about his own approach to writing comedy and the huge inspiration that the 1984 mock rock documentary This Is Spinal Tap was on the creation of The Office.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
Archive used:
Laurel and Hardy theme, Dance of the Cuckoos
The Office, Series 1, Downsize, BBC2, 2001
Fawlty Towers, Series 1, A Touch of Class, BBC2, 1975
Golden Globes, opening monologue, 2020
This Is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner, 1984
THU 11:45 Larkin Revisited (m001b41c)
Going, Going
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode seven:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's poem 'Going, Going', which invokes an England the poet fears will soon disappear ('The shadows, the meadows, the lanes,/The guildhalls, the carved choirs.) Does this poem's tone and language still resonate with us today? Can 'Going, Going' be seen as an eco-poem?
THU 12:00 Pick of the Year (m002ntqy)
Pick of the Year 2025 (Parts 1&2)
Jeanette Winterson presents a selection of audio highlights from the past year across the BBC.
Producer: Anthony McKee
Presenter: Jeanette Winterson
Production Coordinators: Caoilfhinn McFadden and Caroline Peddle
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 13:00 World at One (m002nv16)
Several dozen presumed dead in Swiss fire
Around 100 are injured, with "several nationalities" involved. Also on the programme, a study has found just ten minutes of exercise could halt the progression of bowel cancer. We talk to the lead author. And, as NASA sets it’s sights on a lunar landing in 2026, we speak to one of the very few to have set foot on the moon.
THU 13:45 An Almanac for Anxiety: In Search of a Calmer Mind (m001p1pg)
Episode 4 - Air
Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the UK, with nearly a fifth of people experiencing it over the course of a year. Although it is often treated through medication, there are many alternative ways which are proving to be very effective in reducing anxiety amongst some people. In this series, we explore how connecting with the elemental forces of nature helps people with a range of mental illnesses to feel better. We also learn about the current academic research behind these methods.
In Episode 4 - Air - we visit an infant school in Nottingham where young children regularly learn breathing techniques to reduce stress and anxiety. We also hear about research from Italy showing how slowing our breathing impacts positively on brain activity. Plus breath coach and founder of School Breathe, Aimee Hartley, shares her experience of learning to breathe well.
Produced and Presented by Helen Needham
Research by Anna Miles and Maud Start
Original Music by Anthony Cowie
Mixed by Ron McCaskill and Malcolm Torrie
A BBC Scotland Production made in Aberdeen for BBC Radio 4
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002nv18)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:20 Artworks (m002hkpw)
The Farmer's Guide to Animal Farm
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published 80 years ago this week. It’s often interpreted as a satire of Soviet communism under Stalin. But to mark its anniversary writer and academic Lisa Mullen seeks out a new perspective by asking, what if we read it as a book about farming instead? As Lisa travels from the rich sandy loam of East Anglia to the hill farms of the Cotswolds, George Orwell emerges as a man committed to life as a smallholder, and as a writer deeply involved in the agricultural debates of the 20th century – debates that have shaped the English countryside as it is today.
With contributors Nathan Waddell, Professor of 20th Century Literature at the University of Birmingham and author of A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell; Ian Wilkinson, co-founder and director of FarmED; Melissa Abbot, Growing Officer at the Food Museum, Stowmarket; Dr Ollie Douglas, Curator at the Museum of English Rural life in Reading; Dr Sophie Scott Brown, Fellow of the Institute of Intellectual History at the University of St Andrews and author of The Radical Fifties: Activist Politics in Cold War Britain
Producer: Luke Mulhall
THU 14:50 This Week in History (m002px1p)
1 January 1951 - Celebrating 75 Years of The Archers
As The Archers celebrates its 75th anniversary, This Week In History takes a look at the development of the drama, and we hear what life was like in Britain in January 1951.
How did rationing affect everyday life? What else were people listening to on the wireless? And how did Barwick Green, a song from 1924, come to be chosen as The Archers theme tune?
Produced by Amanda Litherland
With thanks to Tim Stimpson
You can find plenty more fascinating Archers history and archive by listening to The Archers Podcast on BBC Sounds.
THU 15:00 This Natural Life (m002nv1b)
Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean grew up on a farm on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. In this programme, she tells Martha Kearney about her connection with the natural world and explains why the mountains and sea of this beautiful landscape mean so much to her. She takes Martha to visit Llanddwyn, a tiny island off Anglesey, explaining why it's such a special place for her. She describes her childhood on the farm and tells Martha what brought her back to living in rural North Wales - a life very different to the glitz of the city comedy clubs she made her name in. She talks about her new life back in her home country, where she is a respite foster carer and is learning Welsh.
Producer: Emma Campbell
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002nv1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Illuminated (m002mmf4)
Hearing Aids
Like so many people at a similar time of life, the poet Paul Farley is facing up to the fact that he might need hearing aids. His wife has been asking him to turn down the volume on the telly for years, and has given up shouting downstairs for him because he never hears.
Out in cafes and pubs, Paul can no longer really follow what people are saying to him, and so he often turns down invitations knowing he can’t turn up the volume. Even worse, for Paul at least, is the fact he can no longer hear the high frequencies of his beloved birdsong.
Now, though, all that could change as he heads for a test at his local opticians to get his own NHS hearing aids fitted. He also speaks with Gabrielle Saunders, Professor of Audiology at the University of Manchester, about the past and future of hearing aids, and also the truth about the supposed connection between dementia and hearing loss.
Paul also visits the near total silence of Salford University’s anechoic chamber so that he can hear himself think properly - and looks forward to a time when he might once again be able to listen to the birds.
Presented by Paul Farley
Produced by Geoff Bird
Executive Producers: Eloise Whitmore and Jo Meek
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
THU 16:00 Ramblings (m002dzys)
Camino Memories in Penicuik
Clare is in Penicuik for the penultimate episode of this Camino de Santiago themed series. The first five programmes were recorded in Spain, and the final two episodes are in the UK with people reflecting on their past experiences of The Way. Today Clare meets a true Camino veteran: Rev. Nick Bowry has walked it seven times, and on different routes, including when he was making the decision to give up his long-standing career to become a Priest.
Joining Clare and Nick on today's walk are Nick's friends, Cat and Liz, who share their own Camino memories as they enjoy the beautiful local scenery on a fine day.
They completed a circular walk starting at Nick's church, St. James the Less, taking in the River North Esk, Serpentine Wood, and views of the Pentland Hills.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
Here's a poem Nick wrote about his time on the Camino in 2016:
Santander a Muxia, Camino 2016
Come, it's been a while,
And walk, talk, sing, and pray,
My way, your way, our way,
In silence, in company, together, apart, each day,
Never lonely, I'm pleased to say,
One foot in front of the other.
Consciously clearing clutter from my mind,
Allowing time to forgive, seventy times seven and once again,
Making friends with myself and letting go what drains,
I feel my load lighten, less and less remains,
New days dawn and the true self gains,
One foot in front of the other.
Conversations words and gestures,
All allow acquaintances to grow,
Many mark a mile, some many more - going with the flow,
Intimate confessions and burdens off loaded, I know,
Now I have time and patience to listen, to help the speaker let go,
One foot in front of the other.
Calmed and caught in the cadence of walking,
Applied compeed, insect repellent and sun cream,
Mass at noon - seeing it swing - has it been a dream,
Indisputably not, my calf muscles know where they have been,
Now with great anticipation, mi amigo is seen,
One foot in front of the other.
Companions on the way, four between us,
And now we start our one at last,
Minding all that has gone on, the past,
In perspective, in sorrow and joy our minds cast,
New beginnings both, carpe diem, life goes so fast,
One foot in front of the other.
Conclusions - I have a few,
Appreciate each day and what you learn,
Make new friends, be generous but make time for yourself to discern,
Invite new experiences and try them out,
Now is the time, without a doubt, and…
Oh, just put… one foot in front of the other.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txs)
Answering Celebrity Science Questions
We've opened the airwaves to the curiosity of some familiar voices. Victoria Gill puts burning science questions submitted by celebs to Penny Sarchet, Managing editor of New Scientist, Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London and Catherine Heymans, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh.
A master of mind reading and illusion wonders why memories and scars don't disappear, a comedian asks what came before the big bang, and Anneka Rice is on top of a mountain considering what to do next. Listen in for the latest science and some educated hypothesising.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Ella Hubber & Debbie Kilbride
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
THU 17:00 PM (m002nv1h)
Swiss authorities: 'around 40' killed in ski resort bar fire
115 others have been injured in Crans-Montana. We'll have the latest. Also on PM, we speak to the mountain rescue team who saved two hikers trying to climb Britain's second-tallest mountain at night, in jogging bottoms and trainers, amid -15C temperatures. Protests in Iran have entered their fifth day and spread across the country. Are they likely to shift the dial for the regime? And, what does 2026 have in store in the worlds of music, economics and medicine?
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nv1k)
A fire at a Swiss ski resort kills around 40 people
Officials in Switzerland say around 40 people have been killed, after a fire broke out in a bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana. 115 people were injured; many of them are being treated in specialist burns and respiratory units across the country. An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway, but the region's chief prosecutor said there was "no question" of an attack. At a briefing this afternoon the Swiss President - Guy Parmelin - said this was "one of the worst tragedies" his country had experienced.
THU 18:15 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vscf)
Series 1
Parody and Sir Topaz
There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Flo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.
And it's the art of parody that's the subject of today's programme as Ian visits Oxford's Bodleian library with Professor Marion Turner, to look at Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century humble-brag parody, the Tale of Sir Topaz, from his Canterbury tales. It's the tale told by Chaucer himself, the poet pilgrim mocked by the host and apparently for good reason because the rhyme scheme and subject of Sir Topaz is award-winningly awful. The targets of the parody, the romance tales of the era are less familiar now, but Ian is still able to rejoice in the verse and the beautiful manuscript in which it has been captured. Craig Brown offers expert observation from today's perspective, explaining what is required of the parodist and why a good parody is much more than a simple imitation.
Producer; Tom Alban
THU 18:30 Bill Dare: Comedy Alchemist (m002d8vq)
Featuring archive clips and contributions from Bill's friends and collaborators, Hugh Dennis presents a tribute to the man best known to Radio 4 audiences as the producer and creator of Dead Ringers.
Bill created, produced and influenced countless comedy shows across his celebrated career. Although perhaps best known for his radio work, he was also the creator of the Mary Whitehouse Experience which helped launched the TV careers of David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Steve Punt and the narrator of this tribute, Hugh Dennis. Bill also produced the TV series Spitting Image which gave rise to Dead Ringers.
In this programme we'll hear from many well-known names from the world of comedy who worked with Bill. There'll also be another chance to hear the most celebrated clips from his many and various radio shows like Dead Ringers, The Secret World, I've Never Seen Star Wars and most recently, The Island with Stephen Mangan.
ARCHIVE - BBC Radio 4 unless stated: Dead Ringers / I’ve Never Seen Star Wars / The Late Edition (BBC4) / Feedback / The Mary Whitehouse Experience (BBC Radio 1) / The Now Show / Spitting Image (ITV/Avalon) / Please Use Other Door / The Secret World / The Island
Producer: Jon Holmes
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Exec producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
Photo credit: Emma Samms
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002nv1m)
As the New Year begins Emma and Will desperately search for Keira, unable to contact Ed or Eddie, while drawing a blank with Keira’s friends. Will reassures Emma, who believes that somehow it’s all her fault.
Lilian finds Fallon treating a cut to her hand, downplaying any effect George’s appearance earlier might have had on her. Meanwhile, Neil and Tracy meet up on the Green, joined by Jazzer, then Will and Emma, the strain beginning to tell on all of them. Jazzer and Neil head off to check a bridle path, while Emma blames herself again, before Tracy suggests calling George, in case he knows something. On the bridle path Neil hears the sound of a phone, before spotting a body.
Fallon joins Emma, Will and Tracy, suggesting they ring the police, before Will tries George and increasingly frazzled Emma despairs her phone has died. Elsewhere, Neil calls 999, reporting that George hasn’t got a pulse, while Jazzer reels in shock. Neil then wraps George in his coat, desperately looking for signs of life, while an ambulance someone else has called approaches. Emma panics, thinking the ambulance is for Keira and chases after it, followed by Will, not hearing Tracy report that Keira’s been found. On the path Neil tells Emma it’s not Keira, while Will passes on the news that Keira’s safe. Neil then tells them George has been attacked, but won’t say how badly he's been hurt. He tries to hold Emma back, but she tears herself free to be with her son.
THU 19:15 The Archers: Truth and Lies (m002p0ds)
Claire Skinner stars in David Payne's drama written to mark the 75th anniversary of The Archers. Ambridge is in shock as a mysterious police detective arrives, determined to get answers to some challenging questions.
Sally Griffiths ..... Claire Skinner
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O’Hanrahan
Brad Horrobin ..... Taylor Uttley
Hannah Riley ..... Helen Longworth
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns ..... James Cartwright
Brian Aldridge ..... Charles Collingwood
Clive Horrobin ..... Alex Jones
Production coordinators ..... Nikita Berry and Morgan Westwood-Cooke
Technical Producer ..... Vanessa Nuttall
Sound designer ..... Andy Partington
Director ..... Toby Swift
The Editor is Jeremy Howe.
A BBC Audio Birmingham production.
THU 20:00 The Archers Podcast (p0mgnmq8)
Truth and Lies
Emma Freud is joined by Archers producer Dave Payne, who wrote the Truth and Lies episodes, journalist and Archers obsessive Nell Frizzell, and Helen Longworth, who plays Hannah Riley, to dig deeper into the latest events in Ambridge and their fallout.
Presenter: Emma Freud
Producer: Charlotte Davey
WhatsApp us on: 08000 289 044
Email us on: thearcherspodcast@bbc.co.uk
THU 20:30 Illuminated (m002nv42)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002nv1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002nv10)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002nv1v)
At least 40 killed in fire at Swiss ski resort
Swiss authorities say about forty people are known to have died in a fire that ripped through a bar packed with young people celebrating the New Year in the ski resort of Crans-Montana. At least 115 were injured - many with severe burns. We speak to a doctor who's treated many of the victims, and one of the UK's leading fire safety experts.
Also on the programme:
leaked details of the government's upcoming special needs reforms have prompted concern that some pupils may no longer get specialist provision. The Labour chair of the education select committee says any changes mustn't remove an entitlement.
And as the King prepares to release a documentary about his environmental activism on a major streaming network, we'll discuss how Charles is
reshaping the role of the monarchy.
THU 22:45 A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín (m002nv1x)
Episode Four
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Long Island.’ Read by Stanley Townsend.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves. Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter.
Author
Colm Tóibín is the author of several novels, including ‘The Master’, ‘Brooklyn’ and its sequel ‘Long Island’, and ‘The Magician’, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.
Reader: Stanley Townsend
Writer: Colm Tóibín
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002nv20)
Radical History: Greek Gods, Roman Emperors and Religion (with Tom Holland from The Rest Is History)
Historian and co-host of The Rest Is History podcast Tom Holland joins Amol to explore the history of radical ideas and what it means to be radical today.
Tom explains why Christianity represented such a radical break from what came before, how it shaped secular thought in the West and how that compares to other religions. He also talks about his interest in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.
And Tom discusses the phenomenal success of The Rest Is History, which he presents with fellow historian Dominic Sandbrook.
GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis, Sophie Millward and Joe Wilkinson. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
THU 23:30 BBC National Short Story Award (m002jf4d)
BBC National Short Story Award 2025
Two Hands by Caoilinn Hughes
Novelist and short story writer Caoilinn Hughes has been shortlisted for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award for Two Hands, a ‘funny’ and ‘accomplished’ story, inspired by the author’s experience of a camper van crash on a Spanish motorway with her partner. The story, written to create a new set of associations around this difficult experience, follows a couple as they take a driving lesson with an elderly instructor in a quest to regain confidence after a car accident in Italy. Their move back to Ireland has skewed the dynamics of their relationship, and the story artfully explores the complexities and tensions within a marriage, with humour and poignancy.
Caoilinn Hughes is an award-winning author and short story writer from Ireland. Her novels include The Wild Laughter (2020) which won the RSL’s Encore Award and most recently, The Alternatives (2024.) Her short stories have won the Irish Book Awards' Story of the Year, The Moth Short Story Prize, and an O. Henry Prize. She was recently Oscar Wilde Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and a Cullman Center Fellow at New York Public Library. Caoilinn Hughes grew up in Galway and now lives in London.
The 2025 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on Thursday 11 September 2025 live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, as the prestigious award celebrates its 20th anniversary. The shortlist, featuring multi-award winning writers and ‘astonishing’ new talent, was praised for its ‘intimate,’ ‘elegant’ and ’nuanced’ explorations of relationships, community and the specificities of place set against a world in crisis.
Selected by a panel of previous winners and returning judges from across the Award’s 20-year history, the five-strong shortlist are: Costa Book of the Year 2011 and Booker Prize 2025 longlisted author Andrew Miller; multi-award winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Desmond Elliott Prize winning novelist and short story specialist Edward Hogan; and new names, British-Lebanese author Emily Abdeni-Holman, and Colwill Brown whose debut novel was published this year.
Set in locations from Derbyshire and Doncaster to Jerusalem and County Kildare, the stories explore ‘self-contained’ worlds often inspired by personal memories and experiences, from the complexities of marriage, to the mysteries of survival in crisis; from newly formed inter-generational bonds, to the quiet tension between people and place, each reveals the short story’s ‘unparalleled’ power to reflect ‘the times we are living through.’
For two decades this award has celebrated writers who are the UK’s finest exponents of the form. James Lasdun secured the inaugural Award in 2006 for ‘An Anxious Man’. In 2012 when the Award expanded internationally for one year, Miroslav Penkov was victorious for his story, ‘East of the West’. Last year, the Award was won by Ross Raisin for ‘Ghost Kitchen’, a tense, cinematic story narrated by a bicycle courier and inspired by the gig economy and the ‘dark kitchens’ of the restaurant industry.
In its 20-year history, Sarah Hall, K J Orr, Naomi Wood, Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, Clare Wigfall, Cynan Jones, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams and David Constantine have also carried off the Award with shortlisted authors including Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, William Trevor, Rose Tremain, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, K Patrick and Jacqueline Crooks.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Di Speirs who has sat on every judging panel since the Award’s inception and is joined by the very first chair of judges, William Boyd as well as former winners and shortlisted writers Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Kamila Shamsie.
In a time when literary awards come and go, and can struggle for funding and airtime, the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University continues to be a cause for joy
From 15th to 18th September four of the shortlisted stories can be heard at
3.30 each afternoon with the fifth story in contention for the award broadcasting on Friday, 19th September, at
11.30pm. The winner of the 20th BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday 30th September 2025.
Produced by Michael Shannon
FRIDAY 02 JANUARY 2026
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002nv22)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:15 Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (m0026951)
Secret Paths
Raising Hare is Chloe Dalton’s memoir of caring for an abandoned leveret – and how the bond that grows between them changes her perspective on life.
Lockdown leads Chloe away from her demanding London job as a political advisor and back to the countryside of her childhood, where she stumbles across a lone baby hare - defenceless on an open country road. Against her better judgment, she feels compelled to take the tiny creature in and give it a chance at survival.
In the weeks and months that follow, a bond grows between hare and human as Chloe cares for the animal and prepares for it to return to the wild - the outcome she had always planned. The story grants us a rare insight into the lives of these elusive creatures, once thriving in the UK and now increasingly dwindling as their habitats recede and man-made threats advance.
In this final episode, the now-adult leveret ages, and its own young come and go. Chloe reflects on what she has learned during the course of what is, by now, years of living alongside the most secretive of woodland creatures.
Read by Lisa Faulkner
Produced and abridged by Jo Rowntree and Heather Dempsey
Sound Design by Dan King
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Illustration by Denise Nestor
This is an EcoAudio certified production.
Find all the latest books at the bottom of the Sounds homepage. Just click on the Books collection.
FRI 00:30 Larkin Revisited (m001b4b6)
Bridge for the Living
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode eight:
Simon Armitage explores extracts from Philip Larkin's 'Bridge for the Living', which ends with an unusually uplifting final verse for a Larkin poem: 'Reaching for the world as our lives do/As all lives do ... Always it is by bridges that we live.' 'Bridge for the Living' was a commissioned poem, set to music by the composer Anthony Hedges to mark the opening of the Humber Bridge.
Commissioned poems don't always survive the moment of their making - so does this one deserve our attention in 2022?
And why did Larkin call it 'Bridge for the Living'?
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nv24)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nv26)
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 (m002nv28)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 Echo (m002698h)
Elephants never forget.
Through the 1970s and 1980s elephant populations were mercilessly persecuted. But one individual would rise to stardom.
Echo, the bold and fiercely loyal matriarch, was fitted with a radio collar by Cynthia Moss in 1974, embarking on a 50-year journey that has revolutionised not only our understanding of elephants but also that of wildlife research itself.
At the heart of Echo's world, where the lines between humanity and the animal kingdom blur, unearth the universal language of emotion.
Elephants remember, as should you.
Presenter: Harrison Lewis
Producer: Harrison Lewis
Photo credit: Martyn Colbeck
Sound effects: ElephantVoices ethogram
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nv2b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nv2d)
Loving the Sun
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.
Good Morning, I really love the sun. I’m one of those people who would happily bask in 30 degree weather all year round if it were available- which of course it most certainly isn’t in the UK!
This week, I was having a look at some potential sunny escapes abroad and it seems I’m not alone. January is the most popular time to book a holiday. I suspect the combination of post-Christmas blues and dark, dreary January weather makes the temptation to get to the sunshine very appealing.
The sun is a staggering 93 million miles away from the Earth, but of course, God placed it perfectly. Any closer or further away and the Earth would have been uninhabitable.
In Psalm
84:11 God is described as being like the sun
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour.
I guess that metaphor makes sense. The sun is not just required for lifting our mood in the winter, we need it for life. It makes the plants grow and gives us food to eat. God has placed the sun to sustain us physically and He also sustains our spiritual life.
The reason I seek a warm climate so much, is because the sun’s heat on my skin brings me so much joy and comfort. Like the sun, God also offers warmth and joy.
And finally, even if we’re going through challenging or difficult times, we always know that the sun will rise again in the morning. The sun brings hope, just as we can hope in the Lord.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the sunshine. We pray that we will have some winter sun this January that will lift our mood and energy. We pray that you, like the sun would bring light and guidance to our lives.
Amen
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002nv2g)
02/01/26 Wildlife or Pest? The Wild Goats of Langholm Moor
Controlling wild goats is proving tricky in Scotland's border country. While herds can damage trees and outgrow their food supply, these fierce yet endearing creatures have a place in people’s hearts, and they are believed to be a link to our Stone-Age ancestors. As different landowners carry out their own culls, there are fears of a devastating impact on the population. Richard Baynes finds out how it's hoped herds can be controlled, but kept healthy.
Produced and presented by Richard Baynes.
FRI 06:00 Today (m002nvc3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002nv35)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002nvc5)
Living at home during university, Child violence in the DRC, What is RED-S?
A new report out from UNICEF has revealed some devastating figures on the prevalence of sexual violence against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Nationwide data indicates that more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were recorded from January to September of 2025. It is understood that the true number is likely to be higher than these figures, with the crime being underreported due to fear and stigma. Kylie Pentelow is joined by UNICEF’s Chief of Child Protection, Ramatou Touré, to discuss the report.
Maintaining friendships in adulthood can feel like a full-time job, especially when calendars clash, energy runs low, and “let’s catch up soon” becomes a recurring loop.
We revisit The Woman’s Hour Guide to Life episode on friendships to explore why staying connected is so challenging in a busy life. Nuala McGovern speaks to journalist Claire Cohen, psychotherapist Dr Julia Samuel, and the psychologist Dr Marisa G Franco, who share expert insights, relatable stories, and advice you’ll genuinely want to put into practice.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or RED-S as it's known, was once framed as a concern only for elite athletes. But as running culture intensifies alongside weight-loss jabs and healthy eating trends, RED-S has become more widespread. It's often hard to spot, but the long-term consequences can be devastating, impacting immune function, growth and fertility. Sports dietitian Renee McGregor and Jodie Pearlman, who experienced the condition first hand, tell Kylie more about the condition.
It’s peak time for university applications at the moment, with the deadline looming in mid January. UCAS’ data for 2025, shows that 31% of 18 year olds in the UK are planning to live at home this year, which is a record high compared to 22% a decade ago. So if almost a third are staying at home, what is student life like today and how does it compare to the student experience of the past? Discussing this with Kylie are Sakithya Nathan, a first year student at Birkbeck University in London, Daisy Depledge-Kittle, a third year student at Leeds Trinity University, and Dr Aimee Quickfall, Head of the School of Education and Childhood at Leeds Trinity University.
Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Andrea Kidd
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002nvc7)
A Wild Mushroom Chase
Sheila Dillon goes foraging for wild mushrooms in the Peak District in Derbyshire to find out what common fungi are easy to find - and delicious to eat. She hears from expert foragers, mushroom buyers and fungi fanatics about how the supply chain for this wild food works, from the forest floors of Eastern Europe to China's vast mushroom drying warehouses, as well as the lucrative, and sometimes dubious, trade of some of the most valuable mushrooms.
Produced by Nina Pullman.
FRI 11:45 Larkin Revisited (m001b457)
Aubade
Across ten programmes and ten Philip Larkin poems, Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, finds out what happens when he revisits and unpicks Larkin's work in his centenary year.
Episode nine:
Simon Armitage explores 'Aubade', a Larkin poem which invites us to contemplate 'Unresting death, a whole day nearer now', and considered to be one of his most powerful.
Simon is joined by the poet Glyn Maxwell, the poetry editor of the Times Literary Supplement Camille Ralphs (both of whom read the poem for us in the small hours, when the poem is set), and by Stephen Bush, associate editor of the Financial Times, to see how Larkin's unflinching look at non-existence lands in 2022.
Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet
FRI 12:00 Pick of the Week (m002nv3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Sunday]
FRI 12:45 Multitrack (m002kfmv)
A Northerner’s Guide to London
In this satirical audio fiction, in the style of a 1940s public information film, lost northerner Ben is given crucial support on a make-or-break work trip to London.
Writer, producer and sound designer: Antonia Gospel
Executive producer: Carys Wall
Script consultant: Tom McLean
Additional sound design and mixing by Jonathan Webb.
Voice acting by Freddie Bolt (Ben), Antonia Gospel (The Guide), Patrick Wallace, Amy Howard, Matt Bailey and Nick Bailey.
A Bespoken Media production for BBC Radio 4
Commissioned in association with the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship for new talent in feature-making
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002nvc9)
The search continues for victims from the deadly Swiss ski resort fire
After the deadly fire on New Years Eve at a Swiss ski resort, authorities are searching for victims both dead and alive. We speak to the director of tourism for the town. Also: President Trump says the United States is 'ready to go' if Iranian protesters are killed. We'll ask what is driving his intentions in Iran. And legendary documentary maker Ken Burns on his new series on the American War of Independence.
FRI 13:45 An Almanac for Anxiety: In Search of a Calmer Mind (m001p6vt)
Episode 5 - Earth
Anxiety is the most common form of mental illness in the UK, with nearly a fifth of people experiencing it over the course of a year. Although it is often treated through medication, there are many alternative ways which are proving to be very effective in reducing anxiety amongst some people. In this series, we explore how connecting with the elemental forces of nature helps people with a range of mental illnesses to feel better. We also learn about the current academic research behind these methods.
In Episode 5 - Earth - we visit the Horticultural Therapy Trust allotment in Plymouth and discover how gardening can be soothing for people with severe mental illnesses. We also hear about how putting our hands in the earth can be good for our gut microbiome and potentially our mental health.
Produced and Presented by Helen Needham
Research by Anna Miles and Maud Start
Original Music by Anthony Cowie
Mixed by Ron McCaskill and Malcolm Torrie
A BBC Scotland Production made in Aberdeen for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002nv1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002nvcc)
Spores: Series 2
Episode 3. Fool’s Sickener
It’s been 12 years since social worker Cassie discovered a mysterious mould in her home, invisible to almost everyone except her. Now the fungus has spread - its glowing spores a major global health threat, infecting the brains of those who inhale them. But many refuse to take seriously a menace they cannot see.
When spores erupt at a care home in Wales, Cassie’s son Bryn and 30 residents are exposed to infection. But how could this have happened when just days earlier the building was declared mould-free by a mycelium-sighted Inspector?
For Bryn there is only one explanation - not everyone who claims to see the mould can be trusted. But who is this rogue Inspector and why would they lie? In his search for answers, Bryn’s fraught relationship with Cassie will be tested to the limit as they battle to stop the fungus before the looming pandemic can take hold.
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 destroying the very thing that makes us powerful.
By Marietta Kirkbride
Cassie ….. Kate O’Flynn
Bryn ….. Ben Skym
Pascal ….. Emmanuel Berthelot
Ola ..… Aggy K. Adams
Helen ….. Laurel Lefkow
Ethan ..... Philip Desmeules
Josie ..... Cristina Wolfe
Aditi Saklani ..... Amrita Acharia
Conference attendees ..... Laila Alj, Liis Mikk
Bonobo recordings courtesy of Professor Zanna Clay of Durham University
Production Manager: Eleanor Mein
Production Assistant: Liis Mikk with Teresa Milewski
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Title music: Ioana Selaru and Melo-Zed
Track laying: Andreina Gómez
Sound design: Jon Nicholls and Adam Woodhams
Directed and produced by Nicolas Jackson
An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:45 You're Dead to Me (m002nvcf)
Dead Funny History
The Brontës
Dead Funny History: The Brontës.
Join historian Greg Jenner for a fast-paced, funny and fascinating journey through the lives of the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, three literary legends whose tragic family story inspired some of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
This episode of Dead Funny History is packed with jokes, sketches and sound effects that bring the past to life for families and Key Stage 2 learners. From their Yorkshire parsonage to their tiny books written in doll-sized handwriting, the Brontës were bursting with creativity. But their lives were also filled with heartbreak, illness and rejection.
Discover how the sisters used gender-neutral pen names to get published, how their brother Branwell tried (and mostly failed) to join in, and how their novels, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, were shaped by their real-life experiences as governesses, teachers and grieving siblings.
Expect parodies, sketch comedy, and a quiz to test what you’ve learned. There’s a mournful bell for every tragic twist and a goat who’s surprisingly good at literary criticism. It’s history with heart, humour and high production value. Perfect for curious kids, families, and fans of You’re Dead To Me.
Written by Jack Bernhardt, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Dr Emma Nagouse
Host: Greg Jenner
Performers: Mali Ann Rees and John-Luke Roberts
Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse
Associate Producer: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Audio Producer: Emma Weatherill
Researcher: Dr Emmie Rose Price Goodfellow
Script Consultant: Dr Amber Regis
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Production Manager: Jo Kyle
Studio Managers: Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt
Sound Designer: Peregrine Andrews
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002nvch)
Postbag Edition: Sefton Park Palm House
How do I maintain a hot compost bin? Do Begonias have a finite life? How do I successfully grow a pineapple?
Kathy Clugston and a panel of hearty horticulturalists venture to the Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool, while digging into the GQT postbag, to solve your trickiest gardening conundrums.
Joining Kathy to explore this historic palm house are botanist James Wong, proud plantswoman Bethan Collerton, and head of RHS Bridge Water, Marcus Chilton Jones. They're also joined by head gardener of Sefton Park, Colin Hughes.
Producer: Rahnee Prescod
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002nvck)
A New Way to Live by PT McAllister
Kathleen and John, in the twilight of their long marriage, have retired to a beautiful town in the South of France. The house they spent a lifetime of summers renovating offers reminders of happy times for John as his memory begins to fail. Kathleen is sure the house keeps him grounded, happy... until one day she learns John is planning something that threatens to turn their whole world upside down.
A new short story written by P.T. McAllister and read by Helen Lloyd.
P.T. McAllister has taught Creative Writing at both Hull and Exeter University. A short story writer, he is the director of the North Cornwall Book Festival, Writer in Residence at the Morrab Library, Penzance, and editor and co-founder of Inkfish Magazine and Press.
Produced by Beth O'Dea in Bristol for BBC Audio, Wales and West of England
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002nvcm)
Brigitte Bardot, Sir Alec Reed, Alwyn Crawshaw, Dame Shân Legge-Bourke
Jon Kay on
The French actor Brigitte Bardot who starred in over 40 films in the 1950s and 60s before a career-change saw her give up the big screen to campaign for animal welfare
Sir Alec Reed who founded the UKs most successful recruitment agency and, through his philanthropy, raised millions for charity
Alwyn Crawshaw, the artist who encouraged millions to paint landscapes through his how-to books and TV programmes
Dame Shan Legge-Bourke who transformed the Glanusk estate in the Black Mountains and was for many years lady in waiting to Princess Anne
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Josie Hardy
Editor: Glyn Tansley
Archive
The Lady of Glanusk: Winter, BBC Two Wales, 28/09/2006; The Lady of Glanusk: Summer, BBC Two Wales, 14/09/2006; The Lady of Glanusk: Autumn, BBC Two Wales, 21/09/2006; The Lady of Glanusk: Spring, BBC Two Wales, 07/09/2006; Reed Podcast, Sir Alec Reed at 91: A British Business Legend, Permission granted by James Reed; The Fast Show: The Last Fast Show Ever, BBC Two, 28/12/2000; Daytime Live, BBC One, 16/03/1990; …And God Created Woman (Official Trailer), 1956, Directed by Roger Vadim, Starring Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant; Worldwide: France’s New-Look TV, BBC Two, 14/05/1975; And God Created Bardot, BBC One, 28/09/1994; The World at One, BBC Radio 4, 25/04/1968; Brigitte Bardot, BBC Archive, 01/11/1956
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m002nv8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002nvcp)
Swiss authorities say sparklers likely to blame for fire
Police are still trying to formally identify victims from the fire in a Swiss bar, as authorities confirm that sparklers on champagne bottles are the likely cause of the fire. Plus, we hear from a protestor inside Iran, and preview the year’s cultural highlights.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002nvcr)
Officials say they believe sparklers caused fire which killed 40 people in Swiss bar
Swiss officials say they believe the fire that killed 40 people in a bar in Crans-Montana during New Year's celebrations was "caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles."
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002nvct)
Best of The News Quiz 2025
A satirical smorgasbord of The News Quiz's best bits of the year, covering local elections, flag fever, Starmer's struggles, Trump's travails, and a very special meeting between King Charles and Pope Leo XIV.
Written and presented by Andy Zaltzman.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002nvcw)
Eddie and Amber arrive outside the hospital, Amber blaming herself for what’s happened. Inside, Susan and Emma struggle to try and work out who would have attacked George. It could be members of Markie’s gang, but equally might be almost anyone in the village. Emma then tells Amber that George is alive, but has a fractured skull. Amber breaks down in Susan’s arms, full of remorse for how badly she’s treated Susan. She declares her love for George, terrified he may not pull through. Eddie reckons they’ve got to put the past behind them and pull together for George’s sake, re-emphasising this to Susan later, leading to a reconciliation of sorts.
Emma talks to Ed on the phone about Keira, not sure why he didn’t get in touch earlier. Then Alice arrives at the hospital, explaining about her heart-to-heart with George outside The Bull. She’s convinced he then set off to find Emma, desperate to put things right with her. Emma wants to know if Alice saw anything suspicious, as she’s probably the last person to see George before the attack. Alice didn’t see anything, though. Emma thanks Alice for being kinder to George than he deserves, while Alice assures Emma she still likes to think of her as her sister.
Once George has regained consciousness Emma and Amber go to see him, Amber full of remorse, Emma just wanting him home. George tells them it’s all his fault, but struggles to remember what happened when he was attacked. Apart from a noise behind him, then someone standing over him…
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002nvcy)
Courtroom Drama
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at one of the most beloved screen genres of them all - the courtroom drama. From classics like 12 Angry Men and A Few Good Men, to modern examples such as Saint Omer and Anatomy Of A Fall - what are the tricks and tropes of trials in cinema and TV?
Mark speaks to film critic and programmer, Christina Newland, about the history of the genre. They discuss everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to Legally Blonde as they examine how the genre has evolved.
Ellen then speaks to critic Kim Newman about how TV courtroom dramas and reality TV turn audiences into jurors themselves. Ellen also speaks to Ronald Gladden, the star of the TV show, Jury Duty.
Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Correspondents' Look Ahead (m002nvd0)
Looking Ahead to 2026
Alex Forsyth is joined by a panel of BBC correspondents and editors to predict what 2026 might have in store, and name the people and places to watch in the year ahead.
What does the political landscape look like at home and abroad? Will we see an end to the wars which have dominated headlines in recent years? And will artificial intelligence continue to balloon - or go bust.
Contributors:
Lyse Doucet, BBC Chief International Correspondent
Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor
James Landale, BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America Correspondent
Producer: Ben Carter
Sound engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002nv8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:40 on Wednesday]
FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002nvd2)
Travel
Are you planning your summer holiday? The first Saturday in January is called Sunshine Saturday because typically more holidays are booked on that day than on any other in the year. Today, planning a trip might involve consulting AI rather than reading a travel guide or visiting a travel agent. And the trip itself is more likely to involve an airplane than a stagecoach. But it's not just the practicalities of travel that have altered over the years. Reasons for travelling have changed, so have the meanings assigned to it. Was it ever a good vehicle for self discovery?
Shahidha Bari is joined by award-winning travel journalist Mary Novakovich, TV globe trotter Bettany Hughes, historian Alun Withey, literary historian Lucy Powell and philosopher Julian Baggini.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002nvd4)
Iran warns against US intervention
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned President Trump against interference after he said the US would come to the rescue if protesters were killed. We speak to an Iranian academic supportive of the government and hear from a protestor who wants a return of the country's monarchy that was deposed in 1979.
Also on the programme: we hear from the South Atlantic from a team trying to preserve the legacy of the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton; and to mark the 50th anniversary of the children's show Rentaghost we speak two members of the cast, Lynda La Plante and Christopher Biggins.
FRI 22:45 A Long Winter by Colm Tóibín (m002nvd6)
Episode Five
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Long Island.’ Read by Stanley Townsend.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves. Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter.
Author
Colm Tóibín is the author of several novels, including ‘The Master’, ‘Brooklyn’ and its sequel ‘Long Island’, and ‘The Magician’, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.
Reader: Stanley Townsend
Writer: Colm Tóibín
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8byy)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.
FRI 23:30 BBC National Short Story Award (m002jfcf)
BBC National Short Story Award 2025
Little Green Man by Edward Hogan
Edward Hogan's tender and humorous story Little Green Man is in contention for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award. Dorothy Atkinson reads this warm portrait of a heartbroken gardener forced into partnership with a summer temp as they tend to the green spaces of Derby.
Edward Hogan has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. From Derby, he is the author of five novels include Blackmoor (2008), which won the Desmond Elliot Prize and the highly-acclaimed The Electric (2020). His recent short stories have won the Dinesh Allirajah Prize, the Galley Beggar Press Prize, and have been published in the Best British Short Stories series. He works for the Open University as a Lecturer in Creative Writing.
The 2025 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on Thursday 11 September 2025 live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, as the prestigious award celebrates its 20th anniversary. The shortlist, featuring multi-award winning writers and ‘astonishing’ new talent, was praised for its ‘intimate,’ ‘elegant’ and ’nuanced’ explorations of relationships, community and the specificities of place set against a world in crisis.
Selected by a panel of previous winners and returning judges from across the Award’s 20-year history, the five-strong shortlist are: Costa Book of the Year 2011 and Booker Prize 2025 longlisted author Andrew Miller; multi-award winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Desmond Elliott Prize winning novelist and short story specialist Edward Hogan; and new names, British-Lebanese author Emily Abdeni-Holman, and Colwill Brown whose debut novel was published this year.
Set in locations from Derbyshire and Doncaster to Jerusalem and County Kildare, the stories explore ‘self-contained’ worlds often inspired by personal memories and experiences, from the complexities of marriage, to the mysteries of survival in crisis; from newly formed inter-generational bonds, to the quiet tension between people and place, each reveals the short story’s ‘unparalleled’ power to reflect ‘the times we are living through.’
For two decades this award has celebrated writers who are the UK’s finest exponents of the form. James Lasdun secured the inaugural Award in 2006 for ‘An Anxious Man’. In 2012 when the Award expanded internationally for one year, Miroslav Penkov was victorious for his story, ‘East of the West’. Last year, the Award was won by Ross Raisin for ‘Ghost Kitchen’, a tense, cinematic story narrated by a bicycle courier and inspired by the gig economy and the ‘dark kitchens’ of the restaurant industry.
In its 20-year history, Sarah Hall, K J Orr, Naomi Wood, Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, Clare Wigfall, Cynan Jones, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams and David Constantine have also carried off the Award with shortlisted authors including Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, William Trevor, Rose Tremain, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Naomi Alderman, Kamila Shamsie, K Patrick and Jacqueline Crooks.
This year’s judging panel was chaired by Di Speirs who has sat on every judging panel since the Award’s inception and is joined by the very first chair of judges, William Boyd as well as former winners and shortlisted writers Lucy Caldwell, Ross Raisin and Kamila Shamsie.
In a time when literary awards come and go, and can struggle for funding and airtime, the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University continues to be a cause for joy.
From 15th to 18th September four of the shortlisted stories can be heard at
3.30 each afternoon with the fifth story in contention for the award broadcasting on Friday, 19th September, at
11.30pm. The winner of the 20th BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday 30th September 2025.
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie