SATURDAY 03 JANUARY 2026

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002nvd8)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Larkin Revisited (m001b4fq)
The Whitsun Weddings

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 ten:
Simon Armitage explores Philip Larkin's 'The Whitsun Weddings' - considered by many to be the poem that best represents his unique talent.

In this programme Simon, and his fellow poets Daljit Nagra and Sinéad Morrissey celebrate Larkin's attention to detail - his particular gift for description, and consider whether the journey Larkin takes us on across the poem still resonates in 2022.

Producer: Faith Lawrence
Mixed by: Sue Stonestreet


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002nvdb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002nvdd)
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 (m002nvdg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002nvdj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002nvdl)
Gifts that keep giving

Good morning.

As the Christmas wrapping paper’s gradually being recycled and the novelty socks perhaps get re-gifted to a charity shop, the celebration of giving continues. The Church remembers another gift-giver today: The Welsh priest, poet, hymn writer and thinker, Morris Williams, better known by his bardic moniker - Nicander.

In the nineteenth century he served faithfully in parish life, but his real delight was language and theology. Writing in Welsh and English, he shaped poetry, helped to revise the Welsh prayer book, and composed essays and hymns that stretched minds, stirred faith, and gave confidence to others, helping Welsh speakers to find their voice.

There’s something gently revolutionary about a local priest offering big ideas through carefully chosen phrases that’ve gradually shaped prayers, thinking and Christian living across generations. Nicander offered what he had — intellect, imagination and faith — and trusted God to help mould and continue his work. Long after his voice fell silent, others found courage, beauty and belief through his words.

There’s a wonderful mystery in this; gifts well-used continuing to inspire the talents of succeeding generations. In the afterglow of Christmas, when we may wonder what to do with our gifts, Nicander offers a quiet answer. Use them well. Offer them freely. Leave the rest to God. Even small faithfulness, given in love, can travel far beyond our own lifetime.

Generous God, Help us all to notice our gifts and use them well. As we find inspiration through the work of others may we too be encouragers. Amen.


SAT 05:45 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


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002pf06)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 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


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002pf08)
03/01/26 Farming Today This Week: Farms for City Children at 50, horse-powered pints, mart tradition, 18th century farmer diary

A round up of seasonal offerings from Farming Today.

The charity Farms for City Children turns 50 this year. Set up by writer Michael Morpurgo and his wife in 1976, the charity works to connect children with farming and the countryside. Fiona Clampin dons her wellies and joins the Morpurgos at their farm in Devon.

Farming life is full of traditions, and we hear from Rathfriland Livestock Market in County Down about one of these: the luck penny. Farmers selling their animals hand money back to the buyer, to seal the deal. It's a way of wishing the customer success with the stock and building up a trustworthy business relationship. Kathleen Carragher visits Rathfriland to find out whether it's still practised today.

Tradition also abounds at one brewery in Oxfordshire, which still uses heavy horses to deliver barrels of beer to local pubs. Vernon Harwood meets three of the shire horses delivering horse-powered pints.

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. The aim: to secure the future of forgotten cider apple varieties. Sarah Swadling speaks to Keith Edwards, Professor of Crop Genetics at Bristol University and Devon cider-maker Barny Butterfield who have been working on the project.

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, are providing a window into rural life 250 years ago. Helen Millican has been for a tour of what would have been Isaac's farm.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002pf0b)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002pf0d)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002pf0g)
Josh Widdicombe, Helen Sharman and the Inheritance Tracks of Emily Watson

Josh Widdicombe is about to take his stand up show on the road around the country and his latest new podcast series; Dr Helen Sharman talks about the time she became Britain’s first astronaut, and Finlay Wilson a Yoga teacher and author discusses all things yoga in all sorts of glorious Scottish settings.

Plus Emily Watson the actor with an astonishing list of theatre, film and television credits to her name, and an array of awards and nominations to match chooses her Inheritance Tracks.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Colin Paterson


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002pf0j)
Emperor Nero: ancient Rome’s most infamous ruler

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Rome by Professor Mary Beard and comedian and actor Patton Oswalt to learn all about Emperor Nero. Nero has gone down in history as one of Rome’s most infamous rulers – the villain in any number of films and television programmes, and the man who fiddled while the eternal city burned. He was also emperor during a number of momentous moments in the history of ancient Rome, including the revolt in Britain led by Iceni warrior queen Boudica. But does he deserve his notorious posthumous reputation? This episode explores the man and the myth, examining Nero’s complicated path to the imperial throne, his relationship with famous philosopher Seneca the Younger, his murderous behaviour towards the women in his life, and the numerous plots that swirled around him. Along the way, we take a look at the more ridiculous moments in Nero’s life, including the athletic games he founded, the festival to himself that he instituted, and his numerous dramatic appearances on the stage.

If you’re a fan of evil emperors, political plots and the bloody history of Ancient Rome, you’ll love our episode on Nero.

If you want more from Patton Oswalt, listen to our episode on the American War of Independence. And for more Roman history, check out our episodes on Agrippina the Younger, Boudica, and the Rise of Julius Caesar.

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

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


SAT 10:30 Soul Music (m002pf0l)
Porcelain by Moby

A song that was everywhere after it was released as a single in 2000. Moby's Porcelain has been used in films, TV and adverts yet remains a much loved melancholic downbeat electronic ballad. Reportedly written about the fragility of love after a break up it's a track that has a place in many people's hearts.

The people featured are:
Felicia Narhi aka DJ Damselfly
Steve O'Brien
Gyu
Ola Mazzuca
John E Roy
Michael Weinhardt

Producer: Maggie Ayre


SAT 11:00 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.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002pdz1)
Rebuilding a life amid Syria's ruins

Kate Adie introduces stories from Syria, China, the USA, Greece and Brazil.

In the devastated Syrian district of Ghouta, a man calls out from the ruins to our correspondent Lyse Doucet and tells the story of how he is rebuilding his home - and his life - after the fall of the Assad regime.

Chinese ambition continues to strive for pole position in the global pecking order as it makes advances in green energy, artificial intelligence, and military might – but what could be its Achilles heel? Laura Bicker looks at the challenges facing Beijing in the year ahead.

It’s nearly a year since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States – a victory built around unquestioning loyalty among his MAGA base. But some Republican voters are now beginning to question the effectiveness of some of his policies. Tom Bateman reports from New Orleans.

An outbreak of sheep pox in Greece, which began in the Summer of 2024, has seen a surge in cases over recent months with mass culling affecting farmers across the country - more than 400,000 sheep and goats have been killed so far. Hester Underhill travelled to the agricultural heartland of Thessaly.

In Brazil a group of industrial agriculture companies are trying to overturn a landmark moratorium on trading soybeans grown on newly deforested Amazon land - a policy said to have saved thousands of hectares from the chainsaws. Justin Rowlatt gets a bird's eye view on the issue.

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


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002pf0n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002pdyz)
Making Tax Digital and Savings Rates

"A big change" - that's how HMRC has described a major transformation starting in April, which affects the way sole traders and landlords report their income and expenses. The tax office has told Money Box that self assessment has to be modernised to reduce errors and allow them to collect more of what's owed to the Treasury.
It's called Making Tax Digital and this first wave is going to affect about a million people who have a turnover above £50,000 a year. At the moment, self-employed people put the details of their business accounts into their tax return once a year on the Government's own website or on paper. But from April the new system will force them to use commercial software which sends quarterly summaries to HMRC and then repeats all that information in their end of year tax return to which they must add any other taxable income details. We'll speak to HMRC about that.

According to the financial data firm Moneyfacts, since the Bank of England cut the interest rate to 3.75% in December around a third of providers have dropped their rates on their savings products. Where are the best deals?

As energy prices rise, there's a warning about the scammers trying to trick you into giving away your data.

And new research suggests only 1 in 4 people know about a big change coming for pensions and inheritance tax. We'll answer listener questions.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 3rd January 2026)


SAT 12:30 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


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002pf0q)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002pf0s)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 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


SAT 14:05 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


SAT 14:45 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…


SAT 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000w3lw)
Two on a Tower

Part 1 - The Astronomer

During 2021 on Radio 4, Hardy’s Women takes a fresh look at the novels of Thomas Hardy, through the eyes of some of his female protagonists

Two On A Tower

Adapted by Anita Sullivan

Viviette Constantine is isolated, trapped in a small village in England in the 1880’s. Her husband Sir Blount Constantine is brutal, but thankfully he has been away hunting lions for several years. Out walking one day, she meets Swithin, a beautiful kind young astronomer who shows her the stars, and when her husband is reported dead, finally their love can take its natural course.

Hardy's scandalised his contemporary readers with this love story across age, class and legal barriers, setting "the emotional history of two infinitesimal lives against the stupendous background of the stellar universe."

Tragically the stars, and their society are not aligned.

CAST

Lady Viviette Constantine - Olivia Poulet
Swithin St Cleeve - Callum Scott Howells
Louis Glanville - Tommy Sim’aan
Tabitha Lark - Scarlett Courtney
Bishop Helmsdale and Mr Cecil - Tony Turner
Parson Torkingham - Keiron Self
Haymoss and Sir Blount - Marc Danbury
Mrs Martin and Mrs Poulter - Jane Slavin

Directed by John Norton

A BBC Cymru Wales production


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002pf0w)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Toni Collette, Adults regressing, The Archers special

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 joined 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.

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: An Oral History, Professor Louise Ryan, who spent years researching Irish migration and from Ethel Corduff, who came to England to train as a nurse, a career she spent 40 years in.

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, joined Kylie to talk about the condition.

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.

It's 75 years since The Archers first launched. Woman's Hour broadcast from 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 joined Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth Archer, for a behind-the-scenes tour, along with Technical Producer Vanessa Nuttall.

Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Annette Wells


SAT 17:00 PM (m002pf0y)
US Strikes Venezuela and Captures Maduro

In an extended programme, we report on the US strikes inside Venezuela and the capture by the US military of President Nicolas Maduro.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002pf10)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002pf12)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pf14)
Trump: US will "run" Venezuela

US launches strikes on Venezuela, captures its president, Nicolas Maduro, and takes him to New York. President Trump says he'll face "the full might of American justice" for alleged drug-trafficking offences. Venezuela condemns the attack but the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, says the country's "hour of freedom" has arrived. But Mr Trump has dismissed the idea of her leading Venezuela.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002pf16)
Sally Magnusson, Ray Bradshaw, Grado, Clive Anderson, Nathan Evans x SAINT PHNX, Mairi Campbell

Clive Anderson is joined in Glasgow by broadcaster and author Sally Magnusson, whose latest novel breathes new life into stories told to her as a child by her Icelandic father. She brings together modern day Orkney and the Norse myth of Hel in The Shapeshifter's Daughter.

In 2017 Ray Bradshaw became the first comedian to perform simultaneously in English and in sign language. In his upcoming tour CODA, he returns to tales of his parents and the experience of growing up as A Child of Deaf Adults.

Grado has many a feather in his cap - wrestler, Two Doors Down star, presenter - and he is currently brightening up panto season in Jock and the Beanstalk (oh no he isn't!).

Plus music from Nathan Evans x SAINT PHNX, and Mairi Campbell.

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Caitlin Sneddon


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002pdy3)
Zohran Mamdani

The new Mayor of New York and at just 34, the youngest since 1892, is sworn in. He is the first Muslim and Indian American to lead the nation's largest city. Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda, Africa, to parents of Indian descent and it was a childhood filled with bird song and nature. He was seven years old when his family moved to New York, to Manhattan's Upper West Side and that's where Mamdani began to make his mark. He started making music as rapper, Mr Cardamom but after releasing only a few songs, it seemed politics was a better fit.

Zohran Mamdani ran an impressive campaign, recruiting an army of volunteers 100,000 strong to pound the pavements and knock on doors. His social media videos in multiple languages credited with vastly increasing voter turnout from a range of South Asian communities. A left-wing democratic socialist, his message was laser focused on affordability; he promised to freeze the rents and make buses free, all paid for by a tax on New Yorkers making over $1 million per year. But now he's won the election can he actually deliver on those promises? Mark Coles hears from Mamdani's mother the filmmaker Mira Nair, colleagues and journalists to find out what shaped the man making history.

Contributors
Mira Nair - film maker, mother
Hari Kondabolu - standup comedian, friend
Prof Brian Purnell - chair of the Africana Studies Department at Bowdoin College
Cassie Wilson - volunteer for Mamdani's campaign, content creator and comedian
Jagpreet Singh - political organiser for South Asian communities in New York, DRUM Beats
Nada Tawfiq - BBC Correspondent in New York

Production
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Phoebe Keane, Ben Crighton, Natasha Fernandes and Tom Farmer
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound: Gareth Jones
Editor: Justine Lang


SAT 19:15 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


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002pj27)
Robert Graves and 'I Claudius', L years on

It’s 50 years on from the first screening of the TV series I, Claudius - the hugely popular and perhaps surprising cultural phenomenon that brought the story of a lesser-known Roman emperor into the living rooms of millions of families across the world. The person who wrote the novels that the series was based upon was the high-minded lyric poet Robert Graves, who was always quick to dismiss his achievements in prose, saying he’d knocked the books off as means of paying a bill.

Graves was a survivor of the Somme, with a pedigree background and a cut-glass English accent - but he was deeply connected to Wales, Germany and Ireland and spent most of his adult life living in Mallorca, have said goodbye to all that class-ridden England had to offer. He developed an elaborate personal pagan mythology of muse worship that made him hugely influential on a generation of mid-century poets like Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath - and had, across the course of his career, four women who served as muse to his poetic efforts.

The poet Michael Symmons Roberts was too young to see I, Claudius on its first outing, and is only now catching up. Through exploring the rich archive of Graves himself, along with conversations with members of his family and his fourth and final muse, Michael investigates Graves’ extraordinary life and literary legacy. He seeks to discover whether, despite Graves’s desire to be remembered as a poet, he will instead be chiefly known for his war memoir Goodbye to All That and the imperial intrigues of I, Claudius.

Presented by Michael Symmons Roberts
Produced by Geoff Bird
Executive Producer - Jo Meek
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 The Reunion (m002ntqb)
Downton Abbey

When Downton Abbey first hit our screens in September 2010, no-one could predict that it would take the world by storm becoming Britain’s most successful drama export ever. There were six series, three films, a stash of international awards and millions of fans in hundreds of countries.

ITV was still recovering from a crippling downturn in advertising revenues after the 2008 financial crash when they were approached with the idea for an expensive Edwardian Upstairs Downstairs style drama. They took a chance on it and, by the second week, audiences had rocketed by 25 percent.

It was unashamedly glamorous with toffs swanning around huge high-ceilinged rooms upstairs, while their legion of servants scurried around below ready to attend to their every waking need.

Its multi-generational appeal bridged the era where everyone knew their place just as younger characters were embracing women’s suffrage, the rise of socialism, and the imperturbable march of technology.

Joining Kirsty Wark for this Christmas special are: Hugh Bonneville who played Robert Crawley, patriarch of the Crawley family and the owner of the Downton Abbey estate; Julian Fellowes who wrote all six series, five Christmas specials and three feature films; Laura Carmichael who played the unconventional middle daughter Lady Edith – her first role out of drama school; Phyllis Logan who was the firm but fair housekeeper Mrs Hughes; Leslie Nichol who played the constantly flustered head cook Mrs Patmore; executive producer Gareth Neame who came up with the original idea; and producer Liz Trubridge who kept the show on the road through tantrums and turmoil.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m002pf18)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 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.


SAT 23:00 Time of the Week (m002pf1b)
Series 2

3. Feminist Poetry, Betrayal, Pool Parties

Chloe Slack is joined by a guest editor for items about clenching, men taking up space and nipples. Plus it’s time for the annual charity appeal.

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

Chloe Slack - Sian Clifford

Ensemble cast:
Ada Player
Alice Cockayne
Aruhan Galieva
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 Artworks (m001j46t)
Roleplay

Lady Macbeth

One big dramatic role and stories of actors from across the world who have all played the same part. They tell us what the role means and what it means to them.

A new series for BBC Radio 4. First up, the iconic Lady Macbeth.

Featuring: Dame Harriet Walter, Isabelle Schuler, Alice Grace, Akiya Henry, Niamh Cusack, Nicole Cooper and Tristan de Beer

The performers tell us how the character of Lady Macbeth evolves through Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, and share how they approached the role. They tell their stories of first encountering Lady Macbeth and reveal how playing the part affected them.

Their reflections take us across the world - from the suburbs of Capetown via Los Angeles to a school in Weston-Super-Mare. And they reflect on whether perceptions of the famous villain might be changing.

Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mixed by Michael Harrison for BBC Audio in Bristol

Acknowledgements:

Macbeth BBC Radio 3 16th Feb 1992
Producer - Nigel Bryant
Lady Macbeth - Harriet Walter
Composer/performer - Nick Gammon

Macbeth BBC Four 14th Jun 2020
Director - Polly Findlay
Lady Macbeth - Niamh Cusack
Royal Shakespeare Company Production 2018

SUNDAY 04 JANUARY 2026

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002pf1d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 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 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pf1g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pf1j)
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 (m002pf1l)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pf1n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002pdz7)
Christ Church Calgary in Alberta, Canada

Bells on Sunday comes from the Anglican Parish Church of Christ Church, Calgary in Alberta Canada. Founded in 1913 and built in stages it took 32 years to complete and is well known for its stained glass and organ. There are eight bells cast in the 1950’s in a partnership between the British foundries of Gillet and Johnson of London and John Taylor of Loughborough. The Tenor weighs eight and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of B flat. We hear them Yorkshire Surprise Major.


SUN 05:45 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.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002pdxb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 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


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002pdxd)
Fekky: from Hood2Farm

The rapper, Fekky, has become an unlikely celebrity in the farming industry. His programme, Hood2Farm, has racked up millions of views online, documenting his journey from the London music scene to life in rural Cambridgeshire.
Fekky started his music career in Lewisham, south London, whilst stuck at home wearing an ankle tag having got in trouble with the police. Since then he has toured the world and worked with some of the biggest names in UK music.
During the pandemic he connected with his fanbase by filming his battle with his previously neglected garden and posting it on social media. The experience sparked in him a deep love of nature which saw him leave London for the countryside. It wasn’t long before he developed a fascination with farming and in his YouTube programme he visits farmers across Britain to learn about their craft, with the hope of coming home and building a farm of his own.
Fekky has brought a whole new audience to the countryside and wants to see more people from poor urban backgrounds get out of the city.

Presented and produced by Theo Whyte.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002pdxg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002pdxj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002pdxl)
Venezuela latest, David Lammy on his faith, Gospel 'legend' Richard Smallwood dies

The citizens of Caracas in Venezuela were woken in the early hours yesterday by airstrikes and later discovered that President Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken for trial to the US. Presbyterian minister, Rev Ricardo Corzo is in Caracas and has been speaking to the programme following a night of little sleep.

Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy has announced a recruitment drive for more magistrates to help deal with the huge backlog in the courts, which follows his controversial proposal to abolish jury trials in all but the most serious cases. He and cabinet colleague Wes Streeting have made no secret of their Christian faith - a change from the Blair years when Labour famously 'didn't do God'. David Lammy is asked about his faith and its fundamental role in justice.

Gospel musician Richard Smallwood, has died at the age of 77. He is known for hits such as Total Praise and The Centre of My Joy. His work has also been covered by artists including Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. Founder and conductor of the Kingdom Choir, Karen Gibson, speaks about the influence Richard Smallwood had on her and the gospel genre.

Presenter: Emily Buchanan
Producers: Katy Booth and Katy Davis
Studio Managers: Olivia Miceli, Mike Smith and Phillip Halliwell
Editor: Dan Tierney


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002pdxn)
Practical Action

Krishnan Guru-Murthy makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Practical Action. The global development charity builds sustainable lives and livelihoods on the front lines of poverty and climate change across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

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 ‘Practical Action’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Practical Action’.
- 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: 247257. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://practicalaction.org/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002pdxq)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002pdxs)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002pdxv)
Tyndale's Testament

In 1526 the Bishop of London lit a bonfire outside St Paul's cathedral on which he burnt as many copies of the New Testament in English as he could find. The translator, William Tyndale, had fled to Europe to complete his work, and later died a martyr there.

In this special feature for Sunday Worship the Venerable Miranda Threlfall-Holmes weaves together music, readings and reflections to mark this anniversary. She visits the library at St Paul's which now houses one of only three original editions of Tyndale's New Testament. She interviews Dr Paula Gooder and Professor Diarmaid Macculloch about why the work of translating Scripture was seen as so dangerous, and what makes Tyndale's translation such a literary and theological treasure. She also speaks to members of 'Churches Together in Lymm', who organised events and readings around this anniversary as part of the town's annual festival.

Producer: Rosie Dawson


SUN 08:48 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 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002pdxx)
Tolga Aktas on the Jackdaw

Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas shares his fascination with watching jackdaws. He was struck by the contrast between its black plumage and piercing pale eyes, which they likely use as a communication tool. Jackdaws form large, noisy communal winter roosts with other species, and aren't afraid to mob predators behaviour which Tolga finds spectacular to see.

Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002pdxz)
President Nicolás Maduro in detention in the US

President Nicolás Maduro held in detention centre in the US. What next for him and Venezuela? Former President Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton gives his analysis.


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002m1mv)
Sally Mann, photographer and writer

Sally Mann is a photographer and a New York Times bestselling writer. She is best known for making large-format black and white photographs of the people and places in her immediate surroundings: her children, her husband, and the rural landscape of her home state and the American South.
Sally was born in Lexington, Virginia, the youngest of three children to Robert and Elizabeth Munger. Her father was a doctor and gave Sally his old Leica camera to play with.
After university, she wanted to be a poet but she spent more than a decade as a commercial photographer while starting a family of her own and exhibiting her work on a small scale. She published her first book of photographs in 1984. That same year, she began taking pictures of her three children for a series called Immediate Family, which brought her both renown as well as infamy for touching on ordinary moments in their daily lives – playing, sleeping, and eating, sometimes while naked – but also speaking to larger themes such as death and cultural perceptions of childhood, rendering familiar subjects “both sublime and disquieting”.
In the mid-1990s, she began to move away from the family pictures in favour of photographing the landscape around her.
Much of Sally’s body of work comes from observing what is closest at hand because, she says, “The things that are close to you are the things that you can photograph the best.”
She has explored the identity of the American South, and her relationship with her place of origin, as well as mortality and decay, and the effects of muscular dystrophy on her husband. In her latest book, Art Work, she considers the challenges and pleasures of the creative process.
Sally continues to live on the 800-acre family farm near Lexington with her husband Larry and a number of dogs.

DISC ONE: Köln, January 24, 1975, Part I - Keith Jarrett
DISC TWO: Take This Hammer - Odetta
DISC THREE: Trustful Hands - The Dø
DISC FOUR: O Holy Night. Composed by Adolphe Adam and performed by Concert Choir of St Andrew’s School, Delaware and Virginia Mann (Soprano)
DISC FIVE: Moby Dick (an extract of Chapter 3) Written by Herman Melville and narrated by Frank Muller
DISC SIX: County Seat - Emmett Mann
DISC SEVEN: Vivaldi: Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 452: 2. Adagio. Performed by Heinz Holliger (Oboe), I Musici (Ensemble)
DISC EIGHT: You Are My Friend (Live) - Sylvester

BOOK CHOICE: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
LUXURY ITEM: Paper and a pencil
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: You Are My Friend (Live) - Sylvester

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many photographers away over the years including Eve Arnold, Val Wilmer and Vanley Burke. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002pdy1)
Writer: Tim Stimpson
Director: Jessica Bunch
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge.... Charles Collingwood 
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter.... Wilf Scolding
Neil Carter.... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Will Grundy.... Philip Molloy
George Grundy .... Angus Stobie
Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin.... Susie Riddell
Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly
Fallon Rogers.... Joanna Van Kampen


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002pdy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 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


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002pdy5)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002pdy7)
America and a Presidency redrawn

America and a Presidency are redrawn as US forces remove Venezuela's Head of State. We'll hear from Mexico's former foreign minister and President Trump's last envoy to Venezuela about where the so called 'Donroe doctrine' leaves the region, the Presidency and the wider world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002pdy9)
Highways to Hell

Alex Forsyth emerges from traffic jam Britain to ask why roadworks take so long and cause so much disruption to our daily lives. Are there better ways to manage the necessary maintenance of our roads and associated infrastructure? And why do Britons spend so many hours stuck in jams or creeping along the highways every year?
Presenter: Alex Forsyth
Producer: Jonathan Brunert


SUN 14:00 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


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002pdyc)
The Last of the Mohicans - Episode Two

In this second episode, John Yorke assesses the criticism levelled against James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans - primarily that it is responsible for the widely held, inaccurate, view that indigenous Americans were inevitably disappearing during the period the novel is set, and that that false narrative was used to justify colonisation.

Also, John delves deeper into the author’s background to understand his influences, and asks what we should make of The Last of the Mohicans 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.
Excerpt from Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses, by Mark Tawain, 1895.
Film clip from The Last of the Mohicans, 1992 Morgan Creek Entertainment /
Twentieth Century Fox.
Excerpt from Empty Spaces by Jordan Abel, 2023, read by the author.

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 and BBC Sounds


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002pdyf)
The Last of the Mohicans

Episode 2

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 2

Uncas takes up the story, after he is also captured after a failed attempt to rescue Cora, Alice and Duncan from Magua and his men. As Chingachgook tries to find them, Magua takes his captives to the Delaware village, where he is determined to marry Cora. The great leader Tamenund is called on to decide the prisoners' fate. Cora becomes closer to Magua but is still desperate to get back to Uncas. A chase into the mountains leads to a dramatic and unexpected ending to the story….will Uncas and Cora be reunited?

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
Colonel Munro ..... Matthew Pidgeon
Tamenund ..... Curtis Zunigha

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 Bookclub (m002pdyh)
Rónán Hession

Presented by James Naughtie, the Irish writer Rónán Hession takes questions from a Bookclub audience on his debut novel, Leonard and Hungry Paul. The book was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year 2020 and selected as one of the 50 Great Irish Novels of the 21st Century.

The story follows two single, board-game-loving men in their 30s, still living at home, as they navigate everyday life. It celebrates the ordinary, and the idea that we can learn from the people we might otherwise overlook.

This recording takes place in the BBC Scotland studios in Pacific Quay, Glasgow.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m002pdyk)
Heat 1, 2026

Paul Gambaccini hosts radio's most challenging music quiz. Now in its 39th series, contestants from around the country have assembled to be tested on their knowledge of music from across the centuries, and across every genre.

This week contestants pick from topics including 'Vinyl And The Vietnam War', 'Together and apart - Diana Ross And The Supremes' and 'Paintings, Poetry And Performance Art In 20th Century Classical Music'.

Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct746q)
Wallander and the rise of Nordic Noir

Published in 1991, Faceless Killers was the first of Henning Mankell’s crime novels featuring police inspector Kurt Wallander. The series changed the world of crime writing, introducing gritty social realism. The Wallander novels helped establish Scandinavia as the epicentre of crime fiction.

Henning Mankell’s former agent Anneli Høier speaks to Ben Henderson about the rise of Nordic Noir.

Extracts from Faceless Killers are read by David Warner.

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: Henning Mankell. Credit: Gideon Mendel/Corbis via Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 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


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002pdyn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002pdyq)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pdys)
Rubio: America "not at war" with Venezuela

The Trump administration has warned Venezuela's remaining leaders to "do what is right" or "pay a big price". But the Venezuelan military has vowed to confront American aggression. Also: Sir Keir Starmer tells the BBC he wants closer alignment with parts of the EU. And a memorial service is held for the victims of the Crans-Montana fire in the Swiss Alps.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002pdyv)
Katie Thistleton

This week, Katie jumps into the New Year with some new resolutions all with the help of BBC audio, like cooking from scratch with all those cookbooks gathering dust on the shelf, or setting an alarm clock to journal or have an ice bath at 5 in the morning. We also revisit some classic novels and the places that inspired them, gathering around the pig trough on the farm for George Orwell's classic novella, and sit under the yew trees at Jane Austen’s garden at her family home in Chawton. Plus, we hear about the music we’ll hear more of in 2026 via the BBC's Sound of 2026 longlist, and if that's all a bit too future focused, Jude Rogers invites us to join a rave in the cave.

Presenter: Katie Thistleton
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinators: Caoilfhinn McFadden and Caroline Peddle

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002pdyx)
As George struggles with concussion, worried Amber wants him to tell the police what he remembers about the attack. She’s convinced Markie’s mates were responsible. George isn’t sure, and he’s scared of what might happen to the family if he grasses. He insists he can’t remember much about that night. However he does recall something about Amber and Brad, and apologises for his paranoia over his two closest allies. He’d understand if Amber wants to call it a day. Amber insists that won’t happen; she loves George and wants to put the past behind them. Later having told the police George agrees he did the right thing, though he reckons they won’t find many fingerprints on the broken bottle that was used. He speculates on whether it could have been someone else who attacked him; the whole village hates him. Amber urges him to stop torturing himself. The attack was down to Markie and his mates. There’s no way it would have been anyone else.

Jolene updates Akram on George’s progress. They agree the incident’s been shocking for everyone. Alice tells Jolene she’s given a statement to the police. She can’t help feeling it’s all her fault; she could have done more to help George. She feels they’re quite similar – both of them have a monster inside them. Jolene reckons on the contrary, Alice is very forgiving. The police call Jolene to ask for the Bull’s CCTV footage from the night in question. To her astonishment she finds it’s been wiped.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0025cyd)
Dark Crossing

Mike is a carpenter, a boat builder, and a keen amateur sailor. Now, in his 60s he feels the time has come for a big adventure, so he signs on as crew for a transatlantic sailing voyage. But when the skipper turns to tyranny and his only ally on board loses touch with reality, Mike is faced with his own demons.

There's no storm, no shipwreck, no sea monster - only three men trapped together, each battling for their own sanity.

With only the endless sea surrounding them, Mike soon realises he is the only one who can pull the crew and himself out of a very dangerous place. Will he surrender to the dark line that runs through all of us?

Produced by Guy Natanel
Executive Producers: Shannon Delwiche and Chris Jones
Original Music by Pat Moran

A Sound and Bones production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0010wl7)
Drink Water

Did you know that even mild dehydration can have damaging effects to your cognition, mood, and physical and mental performance? But drinking litres of plain water every day isn’t necessarily the solution. In this episode, Michael debunks the many myths about how much water we should drink, and enlists the help of Dr Stuart Galloway, Professor of Exercise Physiology from the University of Stirling, to reveal how much water we need, how to avoid the negative effects of mild dehydration, and how drinking water with every meal may even help to lose weight.


SUN 20:00 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


SUN 20:30 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


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002pdyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002pdxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002pdz1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002pdz3)
Looking at the year ahead in politics

Ben Wright's guests are the Labour MP Rachel Blake; Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart; and Hannah White - Director of the Institute for Government. They discuss the dramatic events in Venezuela, with Dame Emily Thornberry - Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee - telling the programme that the US capture of Nicolas Maduro is "not a legal action". The panel also talk about the UK's relationship with the EU, following the Prime Minister's comments that he would like to "get closer" to the single market. And Ben takes a tour of the basement of the Palace of Westminster to see its ageing infrastructure - will 2026 be the year MPs and peers finally make a decision about how best to repair and rebuild their historic place of work?


SUN 23:00 Archive on 4 (m001z5x1)
Gareth Gwynn Hasn't Fin-

From buildings such as the Sagrada Familia to The Beach Boys’ legendary Smile album, we can’t get enough of unfinished creative projects. Comedy writer Gareth Gwynn turns the BBC archive upside down in an effort to deliver a comprehensive field guide to all things left undone.

We've all been there, haven't we? Things we set out to do, jobs half-done, exciting plans started with such promise, but are now left languishing in perpetual stasis. Is it all failure and frustration or might unfinished projects in fact offer an antidote to our completist society? Through surveying lesser known but brilliantly intriguing unfinished artworks, albums, plays, films, buildings and books, as well as his own side-lined projects, Gareth finds [INSERT WHAT GARETH FINDS HERE].

Featuring contributions from serial unfinisher and comedian Angela Barnes, expert journalist of the mind Kristin Wong, writer and performer Jae Broderick, ‘Smile’ obsessive and comedian Jason Hazeley, art gallery owner Chris Kendall and audio producer/reboot specialist Barnaby Eaton-Jones. A three-act philosophical foray into the world of the unfini

Written and presented by Gareth Gwynn
Produced by James Bonney and Jess Gunasekara
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Sound: Mike Woolley
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

MONDAY 05 JANUARY 2026

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002pdz5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 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


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002pdz7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pdz9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pdzc)
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 (m002pdzf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002nvcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pdzh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002pdzk)
Just to say...

Good morning.

This time of year always brings back vivid childhood memories of having to write what felt like endless Christmas thank-yous . At the time, it often felt more like a chore than a joy.

As an adult, however, I’ve begun to learn that gratitude can be quietly revolutionary. Some people are just brilliant at thanking others, and when it’s well done it can make a big impact. One of my colleagues has a particular gift for noticing other people’s contributions. He makes a point of thanking people by name, often for things others might barely register. It’s astonishing to see the difference this makes. Confidence grows, relationships deepen, and a greater sense of shared purpose emerges.

In every community, there’re those who faithfully get on with small, often hidden tasks that allow others to flourish. Too easily, such people are overlooked or ignored. Gratitude brings them into the light, not to embarrass them, but to honour their faithfulness.

Christian teaching encourages us to do good without seeking praise. Our service is offered to God, not performed for applause. And yet it’s surely no accident that the central act of Christian worship is called Eucharist - literally, “thanksgiving”.

To give thanks, is not merely good manners, it's a spiritual practice. When we thank one another, we help build communities where grace can take root and grow, and even reflect something of God’s generous love.

Gracious God, thank you for the gifts we notice and the blessings we overlook. Teach us to live with grateful hearts and open eyes so that good may flourish and all may know they’re loved. Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002pdzm)
05/01/26 Growing resilience and transforming our farming system, raw milk vending

Growing resilience and transforming our food and farming system, the two themes of the two farming conferences happening in Oxford this week. We will be at both - so what can we all expect?
And we revisit a farm that installed a milk vending machine with the hope of improving the farm’s fortunes.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 05:57 Weather (m002pdzp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002pf4p)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 More or Less (m002phn4)
The Stats of the Nation

The Economy

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.

In the first episode, we’re starting the week by asking some interesting questions about the economy:

Is the cost-of-living crisis over?

The economy is expected to have grown by 1.5% in 2025. Is that a big number?

When taxes are at record highs, why does it feel as if everything is such hard work for public services?

Do the majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than they would in the rest of the UK?

Does the UK have a more progressive tax system than Scandinavian countries?

Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation
Helen Miller, Director of Institute for Fiscal Studies
Mairi Spowage, Professor and Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde
John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter for the Financial Times

Credits:

Presenter: Tim Harford
Quiz contestant: Lizzy McNeill
Producers: Nathan Gower, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 09:30 Illuminated (m002dz4b)
The Frozen Light

Once a year, residents of Longyearbyen gather where the steps of the old hospital used to be to witness the return of something they have not seen in months – sunlight.

The Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, part of Norway, is as far north as humans can live. This dramatic polar world experiences 24-hour daylight in summer and total darkness in winter.

But on March 8th, locals and visitors of its largest settlement, Longyearbyen, wait with baited breath until a single ray of sunshine appears upon the old hospital steps, warming their cheeks for a few minutes before disappearing once more behind the vast mountains that surround the town.

Journalist and producer Lara Bullens takes us with her to witness this miraculous moment, but also to understand why people have decided to make a home in a place not meant for humans.

Svalbard is a barren frozen land, devoid of trees or crops. The risk of avalanches is always lurking around the corner. Polar bears outnumber humans. Powerful winds and sub-zero temperatures engulf the landscape most of the year. Deprived of sunlight for months at a time, many residents battle depression.

The remote landscape is also experiencing vast transitions. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as any other part of the planet, banishing sea ice and opening its waters to the exploitation of natural resources. Coal mining, the industry on which Svalbard’s economy was built, is coming to an end. And non-Norwegians living in Longyearbyen are increasingly feeling less stable here.

Yet humans decide to stay, bound together by the eternal cycle of light.

Written and Presented by Lara Bullens
Produced by Lara Bullens and Steven Rajam
Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas
Mix and Sound Design: Mike Woolley
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002pf4r)
Going It Alone, Venezuela, Military children

In our new series Going it Alone we are hearing from three women about their experiences of having a child without a partner. These are women who are having donor conceived children, which is different to single mums who may have split up with the child’s father. Statistics show that more women than ever in the UK are choosing to become solo mums by choice. Today Lucy tells us her story. We also hear a discussion about the legal and practical implications of this with Nina Barnsley, Director of the Donor Conception Network and Clare Ettinghausen, a Director at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Today Delcy Rodriguez will be sworn in as Venezuela's president after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, who has been in charge of the country since 2013. And she is not the only woman in the spotlight following this weekend's events. Cilia Flores, who is the wife of Maduro and a political force in her own right, was taken with her husband and is now set to appear in a New York court in the coming hours. Attention is also on Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner. The BBC's South America correspondent Ione Wells and Professor Rebecca Jarman from Leeds University, an expert in Venezuelan politics and history, discuss.

There are over 100,000 children who have at least one parent serving in the British military. Louise Fetigan was a serving army officer when she had her first child in her early 20s. She had been posted to Germany, was looking after a newborn and her husband had been deployed to Iraq. She has set up the charity Little Troopers to provide specific support for the children of military families.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Kirsty Starkey


MON 11:00 What Happened to Progress? (m002pf4t)
Payback

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 ideas of economic progress that drove the Industrial Revolution - progress as expansion, extraction, endless energy and constant growth - and the consequences this has had for the planet. The climate crisis is a huge rebuke to the idea of endless forward progress. Do we need to discard the idea and return to older models of cyclical time? Or are there new ways of thinking about progress if we open ourselves to non-human intelligences, both artificial and from the web of nature itself?

Contributors this episode include cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, economist Kate Raworth, environmental philosopher and director of the Climate Majority Project Rupert Read, artist and writer on technology James Bridle, science writer Angela Saini, author Adam Greenfield, classicist Edith Hall, novelist and author John Lanchester, science writer Philip Ball 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 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pf4w)
1. Overwhelm and News Overload

Psychologist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond reads from her new book on the 21st-century phenomenon of overwhelm.

All of us know the unsettling sensation of acceleration - the feeling that there's too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the pressure is relentless. There is always something new, something more, something better. Even switching off seems impossible. This is overwhelm: that persistent feeling that you can't cope, that the demands on you are excessive, that you can't see a way out.

From perfectionism, to overconfidence, fear of regret to coping with the stress, Hammond offers fascinating personal stories, calm and convincing analysis, as well as the tools to take on everything life throws at us.

Today: how to cope with the stresses of a 24-hour news cycle, in a world that feels more precarious than ever, while remaining engaged and informed.

Written and read by: Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind. She has been awarded the President's Medal from the British Academy, the British Psychological Society's Public Engagement and Media Award, Mind's Making a Difference Award and the British Neuroscience Association's Public Understanding of Neuroscience Award. She is the author of Emotional Rollercoaster, Mind over Money, Time Warped, which won the Aeon Transmission Award and the BPS' Best Popular Science Book Award, and The Art of Rest. Her latest book, The Keys to Kindness, won the People's Book Prize Best Achievement Award.
Abridger: Julian Wilkinson
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002pf4y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002pf50)
Junk Food Ads, AI Holidays and Cardboard Mountains

Junk food adverts are banned on television before 9pm and at any time online. It's part of attempts to tackle childhood obesity. But how will it work in a world of influencer endorsements - and has its impact been weakened by loopholes? The Advertising Standards Authority, the body in charge of policing the ban, will tell us.

Everything we buy seems to be wrapped in paper and cardboard these days - is it better for the environment, or is it just about companies trying to look green? Also - more people are using AI to plan their holidays, and we'll find out what the future holds for car clubs as Zipcar gives up on the UK.

And we'll hear how an Instagram scammer whose crimes were highlighted on You and Yours was finally brought to justice.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m002pf52)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002pf54)
After Venezuela, nations wonder who's next

As deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro faces court, a stream of threats from Donald Trump cause concern in Colombia, Mexico, Greenland and Iran. What does the audacious raid say about the global order? Plus, a flurry of speeches mark the unofficial start of the Holyrood election campaign, and ten people are convicted of harassing Brigitte Macron by claiming she's a man.


MON 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002pf56)
Series 2

Exiles: Karl Marx

Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity, and inspiration?

Karl Marx’s ideas caused revolutions, toppled governments, and re-made the political map of the world. He was exiled again and again - fleeing Prussia for France, then to Brussels, eventually living in London where he completed his masterwork Capital. How did exile influence his thinking?

Special thanks to  Bruno Leipold Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Amelia Paul
Researchers: Harry Burton, Martha Owen and Victoria Brignell
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Series Producer: Anishka Sharma
Production Manager: Jo Kyle


MON 14:00 The Archers (m002pdyx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Disordered (m002pf58)
Series 2

2. Someone Like Me

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 Two, Someone Like Me, Hector has an extremely unusual first date with social-media obsessed Joy, followed by a surprise encounter at a Sexual Abuse Support Group. This, in tandem with some gentle persuasion from William, leads to a big change in Hector’s life.

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
Joy – Alison O’Donnell
Jeanine – Jenny Ryan
Keith – David Kay
Colin – Moray Hunter

Studio Engineer and Editor - Lee McPhail
Production Manage r- 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 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


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002pdvq)
John Cooper Clarke on Johnny Green, road manager of The Clash

Johnny Green was a hippy, a driver, a writer, a father and the road manager of The Clash. He wrote about this experience in a memorable book, A Riot of Our Own. Then he found a new passion, cycling, and so he wrote Push Yourself a Little Bit More: Backstage at the Tour de France. Both books are gonzo and stylish, as was Johnny Green. Nominating him is John Cooper Clarke, punk poet and bard of Salford, who hired Johnny as his driver and gentleman travelling companion on the road. "I think about him every day," he says.

With contributions from Topper Headen, drummer with The Clash; plus Chris Salewicz the author of Redemption Song, a biography of Joe Strummer. He says Strummer helped Johnny Green financially with his cycling book. There are multiple, memorable contributions from Johnny Green himself, who was an occasional visitor to Radio 4; and joining John Cooper Clarke and Matthew Parris in studio are two of his daughters, Polly and Ruby Broad.

The producer is Miles Warde who also produced Fear and Loathing in Harrogate. This was a Radio 4 show about a group of punk poets responding to the opening day of the Tour de France.


MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002pf0j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002pdy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Soul Music (m002pf0l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002pf5b)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pf5d)
The ousted Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, appears in New York court

The ousted Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has appeared in court in New York, two days after he was seized by US special forces during a raid in Caracas. Also: 10 people have been found guilty of cyberbullying the French President's wife, Brigitte Macron. And there will be a public holiday in Scotland to celebrate the country's return to the men's football World Cup.


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002pf5g)
Series 32

3. Time, Paris, Bees and Dictators

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.

Frankie Boyle, Miles Jupp, Michelle Wolf and Celya AB are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as time, Paris, bees and dictators.

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 (m002pdty)
Tony’s after some help at Bridge Farm and wonders whether Brian might be interested. Alice explains her dad’s angina has been a concern recently. Brian overhears, declaring he feels mollycoddled and patronised by his children. Tony tentatively suggests Brian must have a lot on with his house move. Brian’s defensive, responding testily that Miranda’s house sale has fallen through. Later he apologises to Alice for his attitude. Alice understands. It would be her mum’s birthday this week so it’s a difficult time. She wonders if now is the right time to be thinking about moving house. Brian assures her it’s exactly the right time for a new chapter.

Over a pint, Neil updates Tony on George, who’s having a brain scan. Tony’s more concerned about Neil – he knows how it feels to discover someone possibly mortally injured. Neil admits it’s shaken him. He reports Jazzer is also very out of sorts. Tony offers good advice, and they resolve they should meet for a drink more often.

Jolene puzzles over the wiping of the New Year’s Eve CCTV footage. Fallon wonders if it could have been deleted by accident. Joy thinks that’s unlikely. Neither can remember seeing anything untoward on the night. Joy broaches the topic of Burns Night, but Fallon reckons they should keep it small this year under the circumstances. When Jolene continues to fret about who could have got access to the Bull’s security system, Joy suggests they forget all about New Year’s Eve. The likes of Markie and his gang will get what’s coming to them.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002pf5j)
David Bowie's late-career renaissance

As the tenth anniversary of David Bowie’s death approaches, Alexander Larman - author of Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie – and Jonathan Stiasny – director of the documentary Bowie: The Final Act - join Tom to discuss David Bowie’s legacy and his less successful, low-profile period.

The National Year of Reading 2026 is a government campaign to address declining literacy, and we're running a series of items on the state of modern literacy. Today, we're discussing reading and the brain, with neuroscietist, Dr Maryanne Wolf and journalist Jo Glanville.

A giant of Iranian cinema, director Bahram Beyzai, died on Boxing Day aged 87. We take a look back at his career and impact with Dr Saeed Talajooy, a scholar of Persian Literature and Culture, who's also a fan of Beyzai's work.

Goblin Band, a London-based folk group, are live in studio to sing a wassail celebrating Twelfth Night. They'll chat to Tom about the draw of folk music in modern times and exactly what a wassail is.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Harry Graham


MON 20:00 Anti-Building with Cedric Price (m001pf48)
Tom Dyckhoff explores the life and work of forward-thinking architect Cedric Price.

Often referred to as “architect and thinker” – or “philosopher architect” – Cedric Price is a tricky person to pin down. He thought differently about what architecture could do – the way it could shape human relations. And for a generation of architects – including Richard Rogers and Norman Foster – he was an inspiration.

He was an expansive optimist who believed in architecture's potential to delight and to nurture change. At first glance his projects (some of which could be called buildings, some of which are more like grand plans) can appear fantastical, other-worldly – but they were deeply serious proposals.

Such as the Fun Palace – in collaboration with the theatre director Joan Littlewood – an egalitarian arts centre able to be constantly reconfigured according to the needs of its users. Or the Potteries Thinkbelt: a detailed plan for the regeneration of a large area of post-industrial Staffordshire into a new kind of mobile democratic university.

Cedric Price was interested in lightweight structures with fixed lifespans. His proposals often included instructions for demolition. And it’s perhaps fitting that one of his very few surviving works – the Snowdon Aviary at London Zoo (now reinvented as Monkey Valley) – is less a building than a giant high-tech tent.

Cedric Price was a technophobe technocrat; a romantic logician; a moralist and hedonist; a radical man of the people in a crisp collar and plummy voice; an architect who – at times – seemed very much anti-building.

Featuring Eleanor Bron, Anna Francis, Samantha Hardingham, Paul Hyett and Jude Kelly.

With thanks to Sir Peter Cook, Hans Ulrich Obrist and everyone involved with the Portland Inn Project.


MON 20:30 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


MON 21:00 Shadow World (m002pf5l)
The Smuggler: Omnibus 1

Shadow World tells the story of a former British soldier who became an international people smuggler.

In this intimate portrait of a British people smuggler, we hear from the perpetrator directly, to uncover his motivations, methods and the consequences of risking the lives of desperate people. The investigation exposes how the smuggling techniques used are still possible today and details the ease with which smugglers can bring migrants into the UK without being caught.

Presenter - Annabel Deas
Producer - Hayley Mortimer
Sound design - Neil Churchill
Editor - Matt Willis
Commissioning Executive - Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor - Dan Clarke
Series music - Ambit Sound


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002pf5n)
Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty to drug trafficking

Nicolas Maduro has insisted he's still the president of Venezuela as he pleaded not guilty to four charges of drug trafficking and terrorism. He told a court in New York that he was kidnapped by the US military. We speak to a journalist in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and hear from a former US ambassador to Venezuela. We also hear from the former Labour leader, now interim leader of the left-wing Your Party, Jeremy Corbyn, who protested tonight
against the capture of Maduro.

Also on the programme: new research by the Resolution Foundation suggests deaths could outnumber births in the UK in 2026; and we speak to the photographer who spotted the fake rear admiral at a Remembrance Day parade in Wales.


MON 22:45 The Wedding Suit by Rachel Joyce (m002pf5q)
1. The Child

In a specially commissioned five-part serial, award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce tells the story of Elmer and Gertie, an eccentric and fiercely independent elderly couple living in a dilapidated cottage on the marsh outside a village in the Devon countryside.

Gertie prefers animals to children, and she has a mouth that could strip paint. They have kept themselves to themselves for years, until a letter arrives which will change their lives. Elmer’s brother and his wife have both died, leaving Elmer the legal guardian of their small child. Anyone who lives within a five mile radius knows how unsuitable they are to look after a child. But Elmer senses they are being offered something precious.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, and most recently The Homemade God. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her writing career began in radio drama and she has written many afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as major novel adaptations. Following a sold-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the musical of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (‘pitch perfect’, The Times) opens this month in the West End, and this month also sees the paperback publication of The Homemade God (‘extraordinarily compelling', The Guardian).

The reader, Paul Venables, grew up in Devon, where this story is set. Since training at Central School of Speech and Drama he has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and radio. On Radio 4 he played Henry in The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and had lead roles in Portrait of a Lady and The Professor. He is married to Rachel Joyce, and is currently playing Jakob in The Archers.

Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound Designer : Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Wild Inside (m001vcdk)
The Red Kangaroo

Wild Inside returns for a new series to take a look at some of our planet’s most exceptional and unusual creatures from an entirely new perspective: the inside. Whilst we can learn a lot from observing the outside, the secrets to the success of any animal – whether they swim, fly, or hop – lies in their complex internal anatomy. How do these wild animals survive and thrive in harsh and changing environments? To truly understand we need to delve inside.

Professor Ben Garrod, evolutionary biologist from the University of East Anglia, and expert veterinary surgeon Dr Jess French, open up and investigate what makes each of these animals unique, in terms of their extraordinary anatomy, behaviour and their evolutionary history. Along the way, they reveal some unique adaptations which give each species a leg (or claw) up in surviving in the big, wild world.

The series begins with an icon of the outback – known best for its hopping, boxing, and cosy pouch – the red kangaroo. Despite the immense heat and lack of water, these marsupials dominate Australia, with their evolutionary history driving them to success. From the powerful legs which allow them to hop up to 40km an hour, to an unexpected reproductive system that keeps their populations plentiful, Ben, Jess and marsupial expert Dr Jack Ashby reveal a mammalian anatomy which holds many surprises.

Further episodes :

2: Sometimes ominously called the lamb vulture – the Bearded Vulture is a bird of legend but survives on an astounding diet of up to 90% bone. And its anatomy reflects its unusual dinner.

3: The formidable sap sucking aphid which at less than 3mm long is the scourge of many crop growers worldwide, outwitting the plants it feeds on, whilst cloning itself to produce identical offspring every 20 minutes.

4: Found lounging in their thousands on coastlines along the western coats of North and Central America – the California Sea Lion is a master of land and sea.

Co-Presenters: Ben Garrod and Jess French
Executive Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002pf5s)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs question the foreign secretary about the situation in Venezuela.

TUESDAY 06 JANUARY 2026

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002pf5v)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pf4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pf5x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pf5z)
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 (m002pf61)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002pf63)
Sean Curran reports as MPs question the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper on the UK's reaction to US military action in Venezuela.


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pf65)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002pf67)
Not a partridge in sight

Good morning.

Today the twelve days of Christmas come to an end. Trees are undecorated, homes tidied, and we try to remember where the lights were stored last year. Yet before everything’s packed away, the Church pauses for Epiphany - a feast about gifts without bows or labels. Gold, frankincense and myrrh are striking, but perhaps the deeper gift for Mary and Joseph was unseen: reassurance, arriving just in time, that they weren’t failing in the extraordinary task given to them.

I was thinking about that recently on the eve of a difficult meeting. I felt anxious, and did what clergy often do in such moments: prayed a bit, worried a lot, and checked my email far too often.

But reassurance arrived by post. A parcel landed on the mat containing a surprise gift from someone from my past. They’d written a note saying that I’d once been kind and helpful to them. I don’t remember much about this. I recall the person clearly - but not the kindness. This is slightly embarrassing, but also offers hope.

That unexpected gift steadied me. It reminded me that small, half-forgotten acts can matter more than we know, and that God has a habit of returning encouragement precisely when we need this.

Perhaps the gifts brought by the Magi did something similar for Mary and Joseph: telling them: you’re seen, you’re trusted, and this strange road you’re walking is held within God’s purpose.

Faithful God, thank you for the gifts that meet us in our need. Help us to trust your timing, to offer kindness freely, and to walk in your light. Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002pf69)
06/01/26 Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme, row over Scottish agri-environment policy, climate resilience.

The Welsh Government's Sustainable Farming Scheme has come into force. It replaces the Basic Payment Scheme which has been phased out since the UK left the EU. What will it mean for Welsh farmers? We speak to a farmer near Brecon to find out.

Environmental groups in Scotland are leaving the advisory boards on the country's new agriculture schemes in protest at what they say is a failure to address climate change and nature depletion. RSPB Scotland, Scottish Environment Link and other groups say they no longer have confidence in what they say was supposed to be to co-design of the post-Brexit schemes but in fact has ignored their views and failed to deliver meaningful reform. The Scottish Government says it is creating new policies that will deliver for both nature and the climate.

Thousands of farmers, environmentalists and policy makers converge on Oxford this week for the annual Oxford Farming Conference and Oxford Real Farming Conference. This year, the Oxford Farming Conference theme is growing resilience, concentrating on how farmers can create the conditions on their land, and in their businesses, to weather future challenges. Climate change is just one of those. We visit a farmer in Herefordshire whose land has been repeatedly flooded. He's working with other farmers to make their businesses more resilient on a landscape scale.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 06:00 Today (m002pdtf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 More or Less (m002phn1)
The Stats of the Nation

Health

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.

In the second episode, we’re asking some interesting questions about health and the NHS:

Has life expectancy in the UK started to go up again at last?

What statistics tell you about the health of the NHS?

After years of promises, are there actually any more GPs?

What’s happening to cancer rates in the UK?

What’s gone wrong with productivity in the health service?

Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Stuart McDonald, Head of Longevity and Demographic Insights at the consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP)
Jon Shelton, Head of Cancer Intelligence at Cancer Research UK
Ben Zaranko, Associate Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Credits:

Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Nathan Gower
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon


TUE 09:30 Artworks (m002nbp8)
Do You Call That Singing?

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

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

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

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


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002pdth)
Brigitte Macron, Miriam Stoppard, Going It Alone

Ten people have been found guilty of cyber-bullying Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, by a Paris court, but that is not the end of the lawsuits. Next up, it's the Macrons against the controversial right-wing podcaster Candace Owens in a US civil court. They've accused her of mounting “a campaign of global humiliation”. Nuala McGovern speaks to Sophie Pedder from The Economist, in Paris, and BBC journalist Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.

Dr Miriam Stoppard has been writing books for five decades now - maybe one has helped you through a relationship, or a pregnancy, or with your parenting or your grand parenting, many of you will have loved her column as an agony aunt. Today she wants to talk about our sex lives as we grow older. Her new book is Sex, Drugs and Walking Sticks.

In our new series Going it Alone, we are hearing from three women about their experiences of having a child without a partner. These are women who are having donor-conceived children, which is different to single mums who may have split up with the child’s father. Statistics show that more women than ever in the UK are choosing to become solo mums by choice. Today we hear Jay's story.

Lynley is a new TV adaptation of Elizabeth George’s much-loved Lynley detective series novels on BBC One. Central to this four-part series is the relationship between Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley, played by Leo Suter, who is the son of an Earl, and the working class, no-nonsense Detective Superintendent Barbara Havers, who’s been assigned to work with him. Barbara Havers is played by actor Sofia Barclay, who joins Nuala in the studio.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry


TUE 11:00 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


TUE 11:45 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pdtk)
2. The Search for Perfection Is Futile

Psychologist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond reads from her new book on the 21st-century phenomenon of overwhelm.

All of us know the unsettling sensation of acceleration - the feeling that there's too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the pressure is relentless. There is always something new, something more, something better. Even switching off seems impossible. This is overwhelm: that persistent feeling that you can't cope, that the demands on you are excessive, that you can't see a way out.

From perfectionism, to overconfidence, fear of regret to coping with the stress, Hammond offers fascinating personal stories, calm and convincing analysis, as well as the tools to take on everything life throws at us.

Today: how to overcome perfectionism, and why putting pressure on ourselves, combined with external pressures to be perfect, is leading to overwhelm, especially among the young.

Written and read by: Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.
Abridger: Julian Wilkinson
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002pdtm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002pdtp)
Call You & Yours: How did you get healthy and stay that way?

On today's Call You and Yours we're asking: "How did you get healthy and stay that way?"

it's a New Year and for 2026 many of us will be thinking about resolutions that involve losing weight, kicking bad habits and getting fitter.

Many experts think we put too much pressure on ourselves to lose weight, get fit or stop smoking or drinkings - that we should make smaller changes and little tweaks that are achievable so we do see a change and something that works.

Millions of us are now buying weight loss drugs after years of trying different diets, but can you do it without resorting to medication? If you do take weight loss medication people want to make changes as they lose weight so when they stop taking the medication they can maintain their weight.

So we want to know what your small lifestyle changes were, that stuck and made a difference to you?

Tell us: "How did you get healthy and stay that way?"

You call our phone lines on 03700 100 444 at 11am

Or you can email us: youandyours@bbc.co.uk

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002pdtr)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002pdtt)
‘Greenland belongs to its people’: Europe warns Trump

Coalition of the Willing leaders meet as Trump official says Greenland should be part of the US. How should Europe deal with President Trump? Also, government to announce new driving safety regulations. Swiss authorities give update on Crans-Montana fire. And, a new study shows adults in England eat the salt equivalent of 22 bags of crisps each day. Why does salt taste so good - and can we reduce our intake without noticing?


TUE 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002pdtw)
Series 2

Exiles: Ishi

Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity and inspiration?

When Ishi walked from the Californian wilderness into one of the settler’s towns, he became known as “the last wild Indian”. He was the last survivor of the Yahi people, who had been massacred by white settlers during the Gold Rush in about as complete a genocide as mankind had ever inflicted. But Ishi was resourceful and intelligent - he fought for ways to preserve his people’s ways of life, language and culture. So that it wouldn’t die with him.

Special thanks to  Dr Cutcha Risling Baldy, Associate Professor of Native American Studies and department chair of Native American studies at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Amelia Paul
Researchers: Harry Burton, Martha Owen and Victoria Brignell
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Series Producer: Anishka Sharma
Production Manager: Jo Kyle


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002pdty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002pdv0)
Almonds and Raisins

Series 2: Episode 2

After David sacrificed his own freedom to save his brother Sammy by taking his place in the army, he and Miriam are finally reunited. As they recount their experiences they realise that their time apart has reshaped them both in ways neither could have imagined.

DAVID, HARRY and IBRAHIM.....Ashley Margolis
MIRIAM, SELIMA and CLARA.....Lilit Lesser
THE PHAROAH, LIEUTENANT ABBOTT and DOCTOR.....Ziad Abaza

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 Randhawa
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 (m002pdv2)
Series 4

54. Martha Brown - Domestic Violence

Lucy Worsley is back with a new series of Lady Killers, where true crime meets history - with a twist.

This time Lucy heads to Dorset to explore the life of Martha Brown, a victim of domestic violence, accused of murdering her husband John in 1856. Martha’s story goes on to inspire Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Martha initially claims John was kicked to death by his horse, but eventually confesses to his murder, revealing the long history of abuse she suffered at his hands. Will Martha’s confession win her a reprieve and save her from the gallows?

With Lucy to find out more is the solicitor Harriet Wistrich, the founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice and the co-founder of the campaigning organisation Justice for Women. Harriet works on behalf of women who have murdered their partners after years of abuse. She is best known for leading Sally Challen’s successful 2019 appeal when her conviction for murdering her abusive husband was overturned.

Lucy is also joined by historian Professor Rosalind Crone and together they visit Dorchester to see the courtroom where Martha Brown was tried for murder and the site of the former prison where she is held before her trial.

Lucy wants to know what this case tells us about the lives of women experiencing domestic abuse in Victorian England and women in similar situations today. How much has the law changed since the 1850s concerning abused women who kill? And, if Martha Brown were on trial today, what might the outcome be?

Producer: Jane Greenwood
Readers: Clare Corbett, William Hope, 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 (m002pdv4)
Prayers through the Checkpoints

Imagine being able to see your place of worship, but not be able to reach it. For many Palestinian Muslims in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, stricter Israeli security measures, rising tensions with settlers, and movement restrictions introduced after the October 7th attacks have made access to mosques increasingly challenging.

The Israeli military says these measures are essential to protect civilians after increased violence in the region. Many Palestinians argue the restrictions amount to collective punishment and fear there may be changes to long-standing arrangements at some of the area’s holiest sites, sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

Reporting from Hebron and East Jerusalem, Emily Wither explores how these pressures are reshaping the spiritual lives of worshippers living at the heart of one of the world’s most contested religious landscapes.

[Photo Description: Palestinians in Hebron perform Friday prayer in the streets surrounding Ibrahimi Mosque. Photo Credit: Anadolu]

Producer/Presenter: Emily Wither
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta
Editor: Chloe Walker
Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002pdv6)
Poems on the Underground

You're sitting on a sweltering Central Line tube carriage wearing a jacket too warm for the day; the podcast on your headphones endlessly buffering. In an attempt to avoid eye contact with the person opposite, your gaze drifts up towards the ceiling. There, between ads for the London Dungeon and a new crypto investment app, is a simple panel - black text on a white background. Eight lines of verse, written by an 8th century Chinese poet.

As Poems on the Underground marks its 40th birthday, this programme is the story of how that poem came to be there and why. We speak to one of the founders of the scheme, Judith Chernaik, about how it got started, and to the poets and passengers who have been part of one of the largest public art interventions of all time.

"When I saw my first Poem on the Underground decades ago, I was so taken with the poem that I missed my stop," says poet Imtiaz Dharker, one of the panel who selects poems for the scheme. "It was only years later that I understood the drive behind it: an absolute belief in the necessity of poetry, its power in the places where we live and travel every day."

Produced by Mair Bosworth
A BBC Audio production for Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002pj2c)
Should we be turning over a new leaf in January?

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

In this new year episode, they’re taking on the idea of the fresh start, especially the powerful urge many of us feel at the beginning of a new year to overhaul our health. Why do we want to make big changes in January? Why do our good intentions so often fall apart? And do we actually need to ‘turn over a new leaf’, or is there a better way to think about lasting change?

Chris and Xand speak to Alasdair Cant, behaviour change specialist with over 30 years’ experience. Drawing on the spirit of Motivational Interviewing, he empowers people to have open, honest conversations about change and growth. With a background in education, Alasdair works with teams and individuals to fulfil their potential in health, criminal justice, social care, education, the arts and the private sector, to get to the heart of what really drives change. With Alasdair, the docs explore why we slip back into old habits, what helps people stay on track, and how understanding the psychology of change can make new habits far more sustainable. They also ask Alasdair how his work has shaped his own life and attitudes towards making resolutions.

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: Alasdair Cant
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 (m002pdv8)
US reaction to military action in Venezuela, as President Trump speak to Republicans

How do Americans feel about the military intervention in Venezuela? Also on the programme, more than a thousand schools shut across the UK because of ice and snow.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pdvb)
Major European powers offer strong support for Greenland

Greenland's Prime Minister welcomes support from European leaders in the face of the Trump administration's warning it could take over the territory. Also: The authorities in the Swiss ski resort where dozens of people died during a blaze at a bar admit there wasn't a fire safety inspection for five years. And a "major incident" has been declared in Aberdeenshire as snow continues to grip the north of Scotland.


TUE 18:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (m002ntw4)
Habda-Geddon

The hit Radio 4 series ‘Fags, Mags and Bags’ finally closes its shutters for the last time, after 11 series and 59 episodes of shop-based shenanigans and over-the-counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Majhu, his trusty sidekick Dave, and his sons Sanjay and Alok.

In this special episode, recorded in front of a studio audience at the historic Oran Mor venue in Glasgow, Dave finally lands on his feet after selling a hugely valuable Moving Alan figure. However, Lenzie gold-diggers are never far away, causing friction in the shop.

This record-breaking show is the longest running TV or Radio sitcom to come out of Scotland, and the 10th longest running in BBC Radio 4 history.

CREDITS
Ramesh: Sanjeev Kohli
Dave: Donald Mcleary
Sanjay: Omar Raza
Alok: Susheel Kumar
Malcolm: Mina Anwar
Lovely Sue: Julie Wilson-Nimmo
Mrs Birkett: Stewart Cairns
Mr Hepworth: Tom Urie

Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions.
Fags, Mags and Bags is a Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002pdvd)
Henry’s a reluctant assistant at Bridge Farm as Helen and Tony work on plans to rejuvenate the garden areas. Henry continues to campaign for giving George work. Whilst Helen agrees no-one deserves to be assaulted, she reiterates there’s too much bad feeling for them to consider rehiring George. Henry goes to see Keira. When his mum calls him later, she discovers he’s at the hospital visiting George. Helen’s not happy. She asks if Henry is mates with George. Henry supposes he is. He feels sorry for George – the family are going through a hard time. Tony acknowledges this is true. Helen assures Henry she won’t cause any drama over the visit. She admits to Tony that at fifteen, she trusts Henry to make the right decisions. Tony declares her a good parent – Helen reckons she had a good role model.

Amber worries that Will’s spending too much time at the hospital. She also checks in on Ed, who confirms he’s fine – it’s just a lot. Later, Ed spots Will’s anxiety and guesses the cause – it’s not his fault he wasn’t there when Nic died. Will says he couldn’t bear it if the same happened with George. Ed and Amber try to reassure him. Will tells Ed that Nic and what they had was his lot in life; there’s no point trying for more. Ed thinks this is a waste. Will could try something different or start dating again. He asserts Will deserves to be happy. Will reckons the only thing that will make him happy is tomorrow, when their boy comes home.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002pdvg)
Innovations in book clubs, sitcoms by women and a new BBC One prison drama

We hear from award-winning writer Dennis Kelly, the man behind Matilda the Musical and comedy show Pulling. In his new BBC One series Waiting for the Out he goes behind bars to tell the story of a man who teaches a philosophy class in prison.

How do you choose the books you read? The Department of Education has launched the National Year of Reading and continuing Front Row's look at the subject of reading, today we’re looking at the evolution of book clubs. Nick is joined by Guinevere de La Mare, creator of Silent Book Clubs, and Dr. Nicola Wilson whose book Recommended explores the story of Britain's first celebrity book club.

The death of distinguished British theatre director Frank Dunlop has been announced today. Dunlop established the Young Vic theatre and directed the first full production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Theatre critic Michael Coveney explores Dunlop’s career.

Often cited as a trailblazer Victoria Wood was one of the first women to write and star in a television comedy show, but the path she’s beaten appears difficult to find and women are still in the minority when it comes to sitcom writing. Dr. Laura Minor, a BBC New Generation Thinker and Senior Lecturer in Television Studies at the University of Salford, and comedian Alexandra Haddow discuss.

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 Assume Nothing (p0m97p3r)
Creation of a Teenage Satanist

Introducing... Creation of a Teenage Satanist

They are a terrorist organisation who believe ‘no lives matter.’ They search for and extort children and young people, with deadly results. This is the story of the far right Satanist group called 764. Written and Produced by Jo Palmer. For information and support on issues discussed in this series, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002pdvl)
2025 in Review: Sight Loss Organisations

2025 could be described as having been a rather eventful year in the world of visual impairment. In Touch has assembled a panel of guests with varying personal and professional experience of visual impairment, to discuss the events of the past year. This programme is part two of our discussion, which focuses on sight loss organisations and the direction of travel regarding representation and where the money goes.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
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 (m002pdvn)
South Africa and the fight against TB

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, TB is humanity’s oldest contagious disease. It has become something of an afterthought in rich nations, but remains the world’s most deadly infectious disease. In 2024 it killed more than 1.2 million people.

South Africa has one of the highest TB burdens in the world, but it has also developed one of the most sophisticated scientific ecosystems for the study of the disease. Clinical trials conducted in the country have been crucial to the innovation of TB treatments, vaccines, diagnostics and prevention strategies.

Much of the funding for this research comes from American institutions. But since early 2025, streams of that money have been withdrawn due to a series of decisions by the Trump administration.

For Crossing Continents, Sandra Kanthal visits Cape Town and discovers the story of two intertwined landscapes: the people in local communities struggling with the burden of tuberculosis, and the scientific institutions embedded in them trying to tackle the disease - and why at the moment both are struggling.

Presenter/Producer: Sandra Kanthal
Producer in South Africa: Isa-Lee Jacobson
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound Design: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison


TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m002pdvq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Monday]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002pdvs)
UK and France agree to put boots on the ground in Ukraine

Ukraine has welcomed a commitment by Britain and France to station troops in the country in the event of a ceasefire agreement with Russia. But does the promise bring us any closer to a peace deal? We speak to an MP on the Commons Defence Committee about potential British deployments.


Also on the programme: the White House has doubled down on its intention to take control of the Danish territory of Greenland, we hear reaction from a member of Denmark’s governing coalition; and Lego goes high tech as it unveils its latest smart innovation, bricks with chips.


TUE 22:45 The Wedding Suit by Rachel Joyce (m002pdvv)
2. Gertie

In a specially commissioned five-part serial, award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce tells the story of Elmer and Gertie, an eccentric and fiercely independent elderly couple living in a dilapidated cottage on the marsh outside a village in the Devon countryside.

Gertie prefers animals to children, and she has a mouth that could strip paint. They have kept themselves to themselves for years, until a letter arrives which will change their lives. Elmer’s brother and his wife have both died, leaving Elmer the legal guardian of their small child. Anyone who lives within a five mile radius knows how unsuitable they are to look after a child. But Elmer senses they are being offered something precious.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, and most recently The Homemade God. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her writing career began in radio drama and she has written many afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as major novel adaptations. Following a sold-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the musical of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (‘pitch perfect’, The Times) opens this month in the West End, and this month also sees the paperback publication of The Homemade God (‘extraordinarily compelling', The Guardian).

The reader, Paul Venables, grew up in Devon, where this story is set. Since training at Central School of Speech and Drama he has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and radio. On Radio 4 he played Henry in The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and had lead roles in Portrait of a Lady and The Professor. He is married to Rachel Joyce, and is currently playing Jakob in The Archers.

Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound Designer : Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Wild Inside (m001vm42)
The Bearded Vulture

Ominously called the lamb vulture, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the bearded vulture. Flying the mountainous ranges across central Asia and eastern Africa, with a wingspan of almost three meters, the bearded vulture is am impressive Old World vulture. Prof Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French are looking past the beautifully coloured plumage, and delving deep inside to learn what this bird of prey really eats and what keeps its great wings aloft.

Co-Presenters: Ben Garrod and Jess French
Executive Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002pdvx)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as senior police officers defend their decision to ban fans of an Israeli football team from a match in Birmingham last year.

WEDNESDAY 07 JANUARY 2026

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002pdvz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pdtk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pdw1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pdw3)
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 (m002pdw5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002pdw7)
Susan Hulme presents highlights from Westminster and the Scottish Parliament.


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pdw9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002pdwc)
A new day

Good morning.

Some days it feels hard to wake up and embrace the opportunities of a new day. On cold, bleak winter mornings when darkness still lingers, it’s tempting to remain in bed for just a little longer. And yet, I keep finding that when I notice the world around me, creation often has new things to show. The sky that broods one day can suddenly blush with pink. Even in my local park familiar paths and benches surprise me some days, simply by the way the light falls through the trees.

A famous daily prayer describes this, saying: “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” Not because everything is resolved, but because God is faithful. This matters in challenging and uncertain times. Creation quietly insists that darkness is not the final word. Light returns persistently. Beauty’s not erased by yesterday’s storms. It waits, and then reveals itself anew.

This daily re-gifting of the world speaks to me of God’s constant invitation. Each day offers a fresh beginning - not denial of what has been, but a promise that renewal is possible and joy can be recovered, even if only in small measures at first.

The landscape preaches without words: hope endures, light is reborn, and love keeps finding a way back into view. If creation can begin again each morning, perhaps so can we.

God of light and life, open our eyes to the beauty that surrounds us each day. Renew our hope, strengthen our hearts, and lead us always into your fresh beginnings. Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002pdwf)
07/01/26 Cereals, solar farms, farmer wellbeing.

Uncertainty about whether a farm will break even, let alone make a profit, is concerning arable farmers, according to Dame Minette Batter's recent report on farm profitability. Lower prices for arable products, rising costs of energy and farm machinery, and the suspension of environmental payments under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme are making some arable farmers ask if they should keep growing crops at all, according to her report. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has just produced its latest figures for what farmers are planning to plant this year. We ask what growers are deciding to do.

The rapid expansion of large solar farms in many parts of the country has caused consternation among many people in the countryside. Campaigners say that although they support green energy, they're concerned at the scale of the developments. The Council for the Protection of Rural England in Norfolk is forming an alliance of local councils and protest groups to support people opposing the projects.

All week we're looking at how farmers can make themselves and their businesses more resilient. A new movement in Scotland is helping farmers prioritise their physical and mental health.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


WED 06:00 Today (m002pf9v)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m002phn6)
The Stats of the Nation

Sex, Drugs and Empty Homes

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.

In the third episode, we’re searching for answers to these questions:

Are there really 700,000 empty homes that could be used to solve the housing crisis?

Does the NHS pay less for drugs than health services in other countries?

Is violent crime going up or down?

Is the UK in the midst of a fertility crisis?

Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Dr Huseyin Naci, Associate Professor and Director the Pharmaceutical Policy Lab at the London School of Economics
Professor Jennifer Dowd, deputy director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford

Credits:

Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporters: Lizzy McNeill and Nathan Gower
Producers: Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m002pf9x)
Two Nottingham Lads

3. Six Weeks in Mariupol

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins in February 2022, and Aiden Aslin finds himself fighting on the frontline. After a desperate retreat towards the port city of Mariupol, Aiden spends six harrowing weeks defending the massive steelworks, the final sanctuary for Ukrainian forces. As food and ammunition ran out, Aiden is forced to make an agonizing choice.

Graham Philips was in the UK when the full-scale invasion began, but quickly makes it back to the Donbas to continue his reporting. And it is not long before he makes his biggest scoop to date: the interview with Aiden Aslin. 

We return to this haunting video to understand what was going on behind the scenes, and discover why it was such a sliding doors moment for both men.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon

A Message Heard production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002pf9z)
Grok AI, Girls' sporting aspirations, Going it Alone, Child Custody

The Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has demanded urgent action from Elon Musk’s platform X, after it was found that its AI chatbot Grok is being used to create non consensual sexualised images of women and girls. The BBC has seen multiple examples on X of people asking the bot to digitally undress people to make them appear in bikinis without their consent, as well as putting them in sexual situations. The BBC's technology reporter Laura Cress joins Nuala McGovern along with Dr Daisy Dixon, lecturer at Cardiff University, who's online photographs have been sexualised through AI.

In our series Going it Alone we hear from three women about their experiences of having a child without a partner. These are women who are having donor conceived children, which is different to single mums who may have split up with the child’s father. Statistics show that more women than ever in the UK are choosing to become solo mums by choice. Emily had her son Kim in the 1990's, and both join reporter Jo Morris to talk about Emily's decision to go solo and how it's impacted both of their lives 30 years on.

2025 was a great year for women’s sport — from the Lionesses successfully defending their Euros title and the Red Roses winning the Rugby World Cup on home soil, to the Netball Super League’s incredible growth. But despite that record visibility, there has been a sharp and deeply concerning collapse in girls’ sporting aspirations. That's according to new research from the charity Women in Sport which shows that just 23% of girls aged 13–24 now dream of reaching the top spots in sport, down from 38% the year before. Nuala talks to Steph Hilborne, CEO of Women in Sport, and Ceylon Andi Hickman, Deputy CEO, Football Beyond Borders, an education and social inclusion charity that uses the power of football to change the lives of young people.

For more than a century, children have been moved between homes because of legal decisions that decided their fate. Yet child custody is curiously absent from history books according to Lara Fiegel, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture at King’s College London. Her new book, Custody: The Secret History of Mothers, examines what she describes as an often-fraught, complex territory. Drawing on thousands of cases not only in the UK but also Europe and North America, Lara says she is offering a new interpretation of how it evolved.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Dianne McGregor


WED 11:00 Assume Nothing (p0m97p3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002pfb1)
5th to 11th January

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

This week: 5th to 11th January

5th January 1066 - Death of Edward the Confessor leading to a succession crisis.

11th January 1922- Leonard Thompson is the first patient to receive an insulin injection for diabetes.

5th January 1971 - The first One Day International cricket match is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Presented by Jane Steel and Viji Alles.


WED 11:45 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pfb3)
3. No Regrets

Psychologist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond reads from her new book on the 21st-century phenomenon of overwhelm.

All of us know the unsettling sensation of acceleration - the feeling that there's too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the pressure is relentless. There is always something new, something more, something better. Even switching off seems impossible. This is overwhelm: that persistent feeling that you can't cope, that the demands on you are excessive, that you can't see a way out.

From perfectionism, to overconfidence, fear of regret to coping with the stress, Hammond offers fascinating personal stories, calm and convincing analysis, as well as the tools to take on everything life throws at us.

Today: why feelings of regret over the past can lead to overwhelm, and hold us back from making future decisions.

Written and read by: Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.
Abridger: Julian Wilkinson
Producer: Justine Willett


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002pfb5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002pfb7)
First-time buyers, quarter-zip tops and new year poverty

The Debt Relief charity, Christians Against Poverty is warning that millions of UK households are facing the new year with increasing money worries and debts, where the amount of money coming in is not enough to cover food and essential bills.

We'll have advice and news of practical help for people who are starting the year with a big hang over of debt.

We'll be looking at private parking tickets again - 16 million were issued last year.

This government and the last one promised to make them fairer. The latest consultation on a new code of conduct for private parking companies closed in September but no one knows when the findings will be released.

Also Dad Fashion is big on tik tok, why the quarter-zip jumper proving to be the latest a fashion sensation, we'll find out why.

PRESENTER: Winifred Robinson
EDITOR; Pete Wilson
PRODUCER: Linda Walker
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Jonny Bentley


WED 12:57 Weather (m002pfb9)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002pfbc)
Reports: US attempting to board Russian-flagged oil tanker

The Marinera, 200 miles off Ireland's coast, is also being pursued by Russian naval forces. We hear from an adviser to the Kremlin. Plus, PMQs panel with the Education Secretary and Shadow Culture Secretary. And, what the government's new rules mean for having a drink before you drive.


WED 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002pfbf)
Series 2

Exiles: Marie Curie

Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity and inspiration?

For Marie Curie, understanding was everything. It was her drive for understanding that saw her seeking an illegal education in Russian occupied Warsaw, attending classes held in apartments and shop rooms. And it was her drive for understanding that ultimately drove her into exile. Her legacy includes untold lives saved by radiation therapy; it is a legacy made possible by her unceasing need to explore and understand the world in which she lived.

Special thanks to award-winning science writer and journalist,  Dava Sobel.

Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Amelia Paul
Researchers: Harry Burton, Martha Owen and Victoria Brignell
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Series Producer: Anishka Sharma
Production Manager: Jo Kyle


WED 14:00 The Archers (m002pdvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m000s80x)
Series 1

6. Clement and Gloria

It's 1948, and two years since Clement and Gloria rescued an abandoned child in Tilbury Dock, and completed their unusual family. Now, they pursue their separate lives until their daughter Joy forces them to admit what is most valuable to them.

Cast
Gloria ..... Pippa Bennett Warner
Clement ..... Stefan Adegbola
Hope ..... Danielle Vitalis
Neville ..... Chris Jack
Olubuki ..... Rex Obano
Martina ..... Clare Perkins
Ida ..... Emma Handy
Gerard ..... Hasan Dixon
Stephens ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Post Mistress ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Sallow ..... Roger Ringrose

Writer, Rex Obano
Director, Jessica Dromgoole
Producer, Mary Peate


WED 15:00 Money Box (m002pfbh)
Money Box Live: Women's Finances

It's 50 years since the Sex Discrimination Act meant all women could take out mortgages and loans without needing a man to approve it.

In this programme we'll take a look at how things have changed for women's finances since then and what challenges they still face. From the cost of childcare to lower wages and pension pots.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Penny East, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, which is a gender equality and women's rights charity, and Louise Claro, Managing Director of Circle Financial Services and an independent financial adviser.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producers: Sarah Rogers and Catherine Lund
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson

(First broadcast at 3pm Wednesday 7th January 2026)


WED 15:30 Inside Universe 25 (m002phn8)
“I shall largely speak of mice,” the paper begins “but my thoughts are on man.”

So begins a truly extraordinary scientific paper, and an equally extraordinary story.

“Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population.” was published in 1973 by John Calhoun, and it detailed his increasingly bizarre research into the psychological effects of overcrowding. Over two decades he built a series of ‘rodent utopias’, where he could keep a population of rats or mice, meet all their basic food and shelter needs, but mess around with population levels. He wanted to see how they responded to having to live, cheek-by-tiny-jowl, with far more other rats than they were used to. And it wasn’t pretty. Social orders melted into chaos, rodents fought indiscriminately, or shut themselves away at the top of the enclosure. Mating orders collapsed, population numbers tanked, and eventually, every single rat was dead.

His work came at a prescient time. In the 60s and 70s, the exponentially expanding human population was a hot-button topic, and ‘population panic’ was in full swing. Alongside the expansion of cities, creeping urban sprawl, rising city-centre crime rates and 'urban sinks', there grew a concern that human living conditions were about to take an interminable dive. How would we live, with so many of us on earth? Calhoun’s work was leapt on by the press and public as a dire prediction of our own coming collapse. His rodent utopias became a subject of great interest among architects and city planners, psychologists and sociologists, and anyone fascinated by the human condition. But has his work been misunderstood?

50 years on, what lessons can we take from the work of a ground-breaking but often misunderstood scientist, in the face of a human population now exceeding 8 billion. Emily Knight explores his extraordinary work, its implications for humanity, and the possibility of a human utopia, that might not look anything like you expect.

Presented and Produced by Emily Knight in Cardiff


WED 16:00 Multitrack (m002kfq3)
I Am What I Ate

How can you reconnect with yourself through food?

Chantal has always relied on her mother to make traditional Jamaican meals. Now she’s an adult and living away from home, she has to take the initiative.

Has her lack of knowledge in preparing these cuisines distanced her from part of her culture? She travels through London to see whether the multicultural nature of the city is up to the challenge of providing the ingredients to her favourite dish.

Presented and produced by Chantal Romain
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
Commissioned in association with the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship for new talent in feature-making


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002pfbk)
US raid on Venezuela & what it says about military-media relations, Actors & AI, Influencers at Westminster & the lobby system

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins on what the media knew and when regarding the US military raid on Venezuala. They're joined by US based journalist Max Tani from Semafor the Defence Editor at the Times Larisa Brown and Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds who oversees the UK’s D notice system.

Actors fight back against the TV and film industry using AI scanning on their images without consent with the General Secretary of Equity Paul Fleming.

And as the government brings in changes to the lobby briefing system for journalists with more influencers being invited to press events we talk to personal finance content creator Rachel Harris, journalist Steve Richards and head of the Westminster press lobby Lizzy Buchan.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Content Producer: Lucy Wai


WED 17:00 PM (m002pfbm)
RAF planes support US seizure of Russian-flagged tanker

The government says it provided air surveillance and refuelling support for the operation. We'll ask whether taxes will need to rise to fund this. Plus: a look ahead to the music not to be missed in 2026.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pfbp)
The US boards and seizes a Russian-flagged oil tanker near Iceland

The United States says it has apprehended two oil tankers which are part of a "ghost fleet" linked to Venezuela. One flying under a Russian flag was seized in the North Atlantic, with the assistance of the British military. Also: The American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says he'll meet Danish officials about Greenland next week, after President Trump renewed his threat to seize the territory. And despite England's woeful Ashes performance, the head coach and the director of cricket look set to stay.


WED 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002pfbr)
Why in the Name of Pierre Novellie

1.Why Can’t We Stop Eating?

Unarguably tall comedian Pierre Novellie uses his unique style of erudite bafflement to focus on the deep and the shallow in a comedic answer to In Our Time. In this episode, all about why we can’t stop eating, Pierre discusses the misuse of soap, weaponised crisps, Saint Aetholwold, and George Orwell vs the pizza.

As Pierre says, “I’m delighted to be given the chance to perform my own comedy on the BBC, the original source of my obsession with comedy as a child. It’s a chance to bring my stand up to a hypothetically grateful nation.”

Written and performed by Pierre Novellie and produced & directed by David Tyler (Cabin Pressure, One Person Found This Helpful, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive)

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002pfbt)
When Jolene comments to Eddie that the Bull will be keeping things low-key for Burns Night this year, he’s adamant they go as big as they like on it. There’s been enough misery already. Frazzled Jazzer isn’t receptive to Jolene’s request for his help with making it an event. He’s too tired. He’s sorry but the answer’s no. Later Jolene acknowledges Jazzer has a lot on. For his part Jazzer sympathises with Jolene’s worry over Markie’s gang and what they might do.

Will’s got George a lot of new stuff for his homecoming. Emma questions whether indulging George like this is really the right thing to do. It’s this sort of thing that landed them in this position in the first place. Just because he nearly died doesn’t mean everything’s forgiven. Will disagrees. They nearly lost their son, and now he wants to forget everything that’s happened.

Eddie refuses to go with Emma and Ed to welcome George home. He reckons he doesn’t know George any more. He’s glad he’s alright, but he’s crossed a line and Eddie can’t forgive him. Will’s not happy with Eddie’s decision, but Emma admits she can see his point. They’ve got it badly wrong, lying and covering for George. They’re too soft on him, and he’s spoilt. Their guilt about the past has made them bury their heads. George takes up so much headspace, there’s no room for Keira and Poppy. If he’s really going to learn from his mistakes, they all need to take a step back.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002pfbw)
Film-maker Ira Sachs on his latest screen project: Peter Hujar's Day

American Ira Sachs' latest film is Peter Hujar's Day, which brings to life the transcripts from an unused 1974 interview that photographer Peter Hujar did with his friend, the nonfiction writer Linda Rosenkrantz. Ira shares what he's learned about the artist through the project.

French pianist RIOPY first taught himself to play piano while growing up in a cult. After running away he was able to pursue a career in music, culminating in an album that topped the classical charts for years. His new album Be Love sees the artist sing for the first time.

As Front Row continues it's exploration of UK literacy as part the Year of Reading 2026, we discuss how we can all become better readers to gain a deeper understanding of and more pleasure from books. We're joined by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who is Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, and Ann Morgan, a writer, editor, and critic best known for her exploration of global literature.

We also talk to Arts critic Hannah McGill about the change in the format of the BBC 1 show, the Traitors.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Gillian Wheelan


WED 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001m4dk)
The Socrates of San Francisco

In a former Fire Station in 1960s San Francisco, there's a party going on, involving some of the most celebrated writers, artists, thinkers and musicians of the age. There's John Steinbeck, chatting to architect Buckminster Fuller; Marshall McLuhan is over in the corner telling another of his bad jokes to a young Joan Rivers and Tom Wolfe is talking to fellow author and Merry Prankster, Ken Kesey, who's hanging out at the bar with the Grateful Dead.

How did all these people come together in one place? The answer lies with a reluctant advertising innovator, an instigator of ideas, an agitator and a mentor - Howard Luck Gossage. The man who came to be known as ‘The Socrates of San Francisco’.

Howard Gossage was an advertising man first and foremost, a preternatural marketing and propaganda genius – but he was so much more. Defiantly independent, he both proved to be one of the industry’s most inventive innovators, astute prophets – and often its greatest critic.

A vocal thorn in the industry’s side, Howard operated the agency out of the supposed advertising backwater of San Francisco – a continent away from the Mad Men of Madison Avenue. And yet its influence is still felt around the world.

But upending the world of advertising was never going to be enough for Howard. He always felt that “changing the world is the only fit work for a grown man”. And so, in the mid-1960s, he set about to do just that. Among his many madcap adventures, Howard saved the Grand Canyon from being flooded for profit, tried to start a revolution in the Caribbean, discovered "the Patron-Saint of the Internet", Marshall McLuhan, and helped to create Friends of the Earth.

In this intriguing tale, celebrated West Coast advertising executive Jeff Goodby, whose own work and ethos has been profoundly influenced by Gossage, explores his life and legacy, which even today exerts its influence on advertising campaigns and agencies all around the world. "He was the inspiration behind the foundation of my agency and taught me about the positive impact advertising could have for society, to do more than just sell, that it can also build communities and drive change".

Presented by Jeff Goodby
Produced by Ashley Pollak and James King
Assistant Producer: Emma Stackhouse
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for BBC Radio 4


WED 21:00 Shadow World (m002pfby)
The Smuggler: Omnibus 2

Shadow World tells the story of a former British soldier who became an international people smuggler.

In this intimate portrait of a British people smuggler, we hear from the perpetrator directly, to uncover his motivations, methods and the consequences of risking the lives of desperate people. The investigation exposes how the smuggling techniques used are still possible today and details the ease with which smugglers can bring migrants into the UK without being caught.

Presenter - Annabel Deas
Producer - Hayley Mortimer
Sound design - Neil Churchill
Editor - Matt Willis
Commissioning Executive - Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor - Dan Clarke
Series music - Ambit Sound


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002pfc0)
US immigration officer shoots woman dead in Minneapolis

The governor of the US state of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has accused the Trump administration of having immigration policies designed to generate fear and headlines. It comes after a US federal agent shot dead a woman in the city of Minneapolis. The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, claimed the woman had tried to use her car to run over officers and called it an act of domestic terrorism.

Also in the programme: the United States says it has seized two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil - one in the Caribbean and a Russian flagged vessel in the North Atlantic. We speak to Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan, former commander of the US Fifth Fleet between 2015 and 2017, and to Stephanie Baker, an expert on the "shadow" oil fleet; and the wildcard entrant at an International Tennis Federation event who struggled to even hit a serve.


WED 22:45 The Wedding Suit by Rachel Joyce (m002pfc2)
3. Sickness

In a specially commissioned five-part serial, award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce tells the story of Elmer and Gertie, an eccentric and fiercely independent elderly couple living in a dilapidated cottage on the marsh outside a village in the Devon countryside.

Gertie prefers animals to children, and she has a mouth that could strip paint. They have kept themselves to themselves for years, until a letter arrives which will change their lives. Elmer’s brother and his wife have both died, leaving Elmer the legal guardian of their small child. Anyone who lives within a five mile radius knows how unsuitable they are to look after a child. But Elmer senses they are being offered something precious.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, and most recently The Homemade God. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her writing career began in radio drama and she has written many afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as major novel adaptations. Following a sold-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the musical of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (‘pitch perfect’, The Times) opens this month in the West End, and this month also sees the paperback publication of The Homemade God (‘extraordinarily compelling', The Guardian).

The reader, Paul Venables, grew up in Devon, where this story is set. Since training at Central School of Speech and Drama he has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and radio. On Radio 4 he played Henry in The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and had lead roles in Portrait of a Lady and The Professor. He is married to Rachel Joyce, and is currently playing Jakob in The Archers.

Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound Designer : Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002pfc4)
David Eagle: See No Eagle

4. On the Road

In the final episode of the series, David shares the many occupational hazards of life as a touring blind musician and comedian, and how you never quite prepare for what audiences you might end up with.

Written and performed by David Eagle.

Editor: David Thomas
Production Co-ordinator: Jodie Charman
Producer: Rajiv Karia


WED 23:15 The Skewer (m002pfc6)
Series 15

1. There are Stranger Things...

The four-time Gold Comedy winner at the Radio Academy Awards returns as Jon Holmes mashes up news with pop-culture into a current affairs comedy concept album.

This week - Trump wants the life-giving Spice and stranger things are afoot as Musk's AI bot Grok is in the Upside Down. Also, Countryfile's photography competition takes a curious turn.

Producer: Jon Holmes
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002pfc9)
UK support for US seizure of oil tanker

THURSDAY 08 JANUARY 2026

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002pfcc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pfb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pfcf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pfch)
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 (m002pfck)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002pfcm)
Sean Curran reports on Prime Minister's Questions and a statement from the Defence Secretary about the oil tanker seizure.


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pfcp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002pfcr)
I thought I knew

Good morning.

I thought I knew about grief. After all, I’ve been a priest for years, sitting with bereaved families in hospitals and homes, listening to stories, offering prayers and simply being there in situations of loss. Then, a few months ago, our own family was changed forever by a sudden, tragic bereavement and I've been gently humbled.

One of the unexpected things we’ve noticed since Mum died is how often we keep losing other things. Keys vanish, phones are misplaced, watches, books and glasses seem to wander off on their own little adventures. At first it was faintly comic. But over time, it’s begun to feel as though the major loss we’re carrying is echoed in other tiny losses.

Grief, I’m learning, isn’t tidy. It makes us tired, distracted and emotionally overloaded. Learning to be patient with ourselves - to say, “Of course I’ve lost my keys; I’ve lost my mum” - is strangely healing. Each small loss then becomes a reminder of what truly matters, and (if it happens) each little recovery - offers a quiet, reassurance.

For Christians, these little reunions whisper a deeper hope: that loss isn’t the final word. Just as we’re often reunited with what we’ve mislaid, so we trust that love endures beyond death. Letters from people who knew Mum, telling us how precious she was to them, help us treasure her still - not in our hands, but in our hearts.

God of compassion, be close to all who grieve, steady us in loss, and bless us with gentleness. Deepen our hope and help us to find joy and peace in you. Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002pfct)
The opening of Oxford Farming Conference 2026

At the opening of the Oxford Farming Conference 2026, Charlotte Smith previews the government's latest announcement on England's largest environmental payment scheme.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


THU 06:00 Today (m002pfgk)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 More or Less (m002phnb)
The Stats of the Nation

Older People, Education, Prisons and the Weather

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.

In the fourth episode, we’re searching for answers to these questions:

Are one in four pensioners millionaires?

Is England’s education system performing better than Finland’s? And how does it compare to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Are our prisons going to run out of space?

Is the weather getting weirder?

Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:
Heidi Karjalainen, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Harry Fletcher-Wood, Director of Training at StepLab
John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics at University College London
Cassia Rowland, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government
Friederike Otto, Professor of Climate Science at Imperial College London

Credits:

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Nathan Gower, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 09:30 Multitrack (m002kf8y)
Lost and Found: The Methodists

Lost & Found: The Methodists is a personal story about a Zimbabwean Mother’s search for a community and spiritual home she thought she had lost forever.

“Standing on the street corner, there were seven people dressed in red and white uniforms. I knew who they were."

Tendayi Pearce, the daughter of a Methodist minister, used to travel from England to Zimbabwe just to enjoy the church songs that she had sung as a child, until one day, her son saw a group of women wearing the traditional Zimbabwean Methodist church uniforms in Southend-on-Sea.

Tendayi tells the story of her journey to Britain and the loss of her connection to the church she had grown up with, before this chance encounter resulted in her connecting with hundreds of Zimbabweans across the country, long forgotten school friends, and creating her own branch of the church in Milton Keynes.

Lost and Found: The Methodists is a story about searching for something that was intrinsic to you and the magic that can happen once it is found again. It is a story of immigration and community which is rarely talked about - the connecting of communities across the country, which has a positive ripple effect on the individuals found within it, as well as the 'traditional British' communities and institutions.

Written, presented and produced by Daniel Pearce
Featuring Tendayi Pearce, Martin Nyamupingidza & Annah Mwadiwa
Sound Design and Editing: Daniel Pearce
Choir Recording and TX Mastering: Jerry Peal
Exec Producer: Gordon Kennedy
Music recorded at Freeman Memorial Methodist Church, Bletchley
Featuring The Milton Keynes Zimbabwean Fellowship Choir and Shalom Trumpet

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4

Commissioned in association with the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship for new talent in feature-making


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002pfgm)
Regime Change (with Natalie Haynes)

New Year, and Venezuela is under new management.

The fallout from the "extraction" of Maduro has thrown up some interesting political language. Why aren't the US calling it 'regime change'? Why is Starmer damned if he does or doesn't say anything? and is Trump the first politician to use the word 'literally' correctly?

In the extended version, we also look at Natalie's pedometer, Armando as the Elder of Taskmaster, and why a 'mild zombie apocalypse' has been described as 'encouraging'.

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 (m002pfgp)
Breast screening, MET police vetting, Female punk bands

A chemotherapy nurse is so concerned about the rates of breast cancer she has seen in women under 50 that she's started a parliamentary petition to get the age of mammograms reduced to 40 and for them to be annual. Currently women get their first screening between the ages of 50 and 53 and then get screened every 3 years. Anita Rani talks to nurse Gemma Reeves and to Dr Sacha Howell from the Christie Hospital in Manchester about how the breast screening programme could be improved.

Two serial rapists were among 131 officers and staff in the Metropolitan Police who committed crimes or misconduct after they were not properly vetted, a review by the Met has found. David Carrick, one of the UK's worst sex offenders, and Cliff Mitchell, who carried out a "campaign of rape" on two victims, were among the police officers who weren't properly checked. Zoe Billingham, former HM Inspector of Constabulary, gives us her reaction.

The city of Leicester has seen a wave of all-female punk rock bands in the past five years, so how is it reshaping the local music scene? Around 27 all-female bands have grown from a movement founded by Ruth Miller. Called the Unglamorous Music Project, it’s enabled women to learn instruments and form bands together. Ruth died from breast cancer in 2023, but her aim to get more older women into the music industry and onto the stage has materialised. Janet Berry and Alison Dunne are two of the women involved. We hear their music and talk to them about their inspiration.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham are working with the Gordon Moody gambling harms charity to establish whether there is a link between hormonal fluctuations in women - caused by periods, ovulation, menopause and childbirth - and gambling addiction.  Some women are reporting that the urge to gamble when they ovulate is very strong with one saying she was betting online for more than 24 hours until she ran out of money.  The four-year study will try to establish why and determine what kind of support can help. Dr Rosalind Baker-Frampton tells us more.

Writer Alice Bell is a video games journalist and Editor of the Guinness World Records gaming edition.  Her new novel, The Grapples of Wrath is Alice’s latest instalment in her ‘cosy crime’ series. Called ‘Grave Expectations’, it features medium turned private investigator, Claire Hendricks. She embarks on her first official case, set in the world of pro-wrestling, with the help of her ghost best friend, Sophie.  But can she  work out what’s real and what’s fake?

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Melanie Abbott


THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002pfgr)
Guillermo del Toro

Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences. From his 1992 debut Cronos to his recent big budget spectacular retelling of Frankenstein, del Toro’s 12 feature films mix fantasy, horror and Gothic romance to create modern fairy tales about innocence, brutality and redemption. His movies have won eight Academy Awards including three for Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006, and four Oscars for The Shape Of Water in 2017, plus seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globes.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Archive used:
Clip from Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, 2006
Clip from Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, 2025
Clip from Frankenstein, James Whale, 1931
Clip from I Confess, Alfred Hitchcock, 1953


THU 11:45 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pfgt)
4. Too Much Confidence and Imposter Syndrome

Psychologist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond reads from her new book on the 21st-century phenomenon of overwhelm.

All of us know the unsettling sensation of acceleration - the feeling that there's too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the pressure is relentless. There is always something new, something more, something better. Even switching off seems impossible. This is overwhelm: that persistent feeling that you can't cope, that the demands on you are excessive, that you can't see a way out.

From perfectionism, to overconfidence, fear of regret to coping with the stress, Hammond offers fascinating personal stories, calm and convincing analysis, as well as the tools to take on everything life throws at us.

Today: why humility and recognising our failings rather than overconfidence might be the key to success.

Written and read by: Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.
Abridger: Julian Wilkinson
Producer: Justine Willett


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002pfgw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m002pfgy)
What Is the UK Good At?

Every country likes to think it’s world-class at something. The Italians claim style, the Germans have their engineering and the Americans have Silicon Valley - and swagger. So, what about us? What’s Britain’s superpower? It’s a serious question. If we know what the UK is good at, we can play to our strengths and build an economy that pays for the things we all rely on – like hospitals, homes and schools. Evan Davis and guests discuss what Britain does well across culture, innovation and capital. And asks what works, what doesn’t and why it matters.

Guests:
Ric Lewis, founding partner of Tristan Capital Partners
Kate Bingham, managing partner at SV Health Investors
Shona McCarthy, former CEO, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society

Production team:
Presenter: Evan Davis
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Neal Razzell
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound: Jonathan Greer and James Beard
Editor: Matt Willis

The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002pfh0)
Weight-loss Injections

Is it ok to stay on weight loss injections?

They have been nothing short of a pharmaceutical phenomenon. But for people like listener Lynn who've had huge success on weight loss drugs like Mounjaro, the question now arises about the implications of using them long-term. Could there be a 'maintenance' dose that would potentially allow for use over many years, or even a lifetime? And as scientists study the data, are other benefits emerging that go beyond just losing weight that could burnish their wonder-product reputation?

Presenter Greg Foot is joined in the studio by Lynn to hear her story and do a deep-dive into the science alongside Professor of Molecular Neuroendocrinology at the University of Cambridge, Giles Yeo.

At Sliced Bread we're hungry for your suggestions so we can keep making fresh batches! If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807.

RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCERS: SIMON HOBAN AND GREG FOOT


THU 12:57 Weather (m002pfh2)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002pfh4)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002pfh6)
Series 2

Exiles: Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz

Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity and inspiration?

In a world that held few spaces for women, Sor Juana found her own. Born in 1648 near the town of Nepantla, she was the daughter of a Spanish coloniser and an indigenous mother. A woman of considerable intelligence, she yearned for a university education, but that was a privilege reserved for men.

She learned all she could, and poured forth her learning in plays, in poetry, and in prose, exploring theological thought and questioning the hypocrisy of the male thinkers who claimed that, as a woman, she had no right to think at all.

Special thanks to a Elisa Sampson Vera Tudela, reader in Latin American culture at King's College London.

Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Amelia Paul
Researchers: Harry Burton, Martha Owen and Victoria Brignell
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Series Producer: Anishka Sharma
Production Manager: Jo Kyle


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002pfbt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002pfh8)
The Goblin King and Me

A story about a real-life encounter with David Bowie, marking ten years since his passing.

Daniel is a quiet kid. He's bullied at school and lives with his grandparents, who don't quite understand why he can't be tougher and more like other boys. But then one day Daniel wins a competition to go to a special screening of a children's fantasy film called Labyrinth, starring David Bowie as the Goblin King.

He sets off to London with his gran, and when the trip goes wrong Daniel’s journey becomes his own fantasy quest, an epic adventure in which mundane reality and Daniel's inner fantasy life begin to merge. Can he make it to the centre of the labyrinth, to meet the Goblin King?

The Goblin King and Me is based upon a real-life meeting imbued with what feels like real magic. A close friend of the author told him the story of how he once met David Bowie as a child, and how Bowie gave him some life-changing advice. The story went viral when the author posted it on social media in 2017, after it was retweeted by Bowie’s family.

Cast:
Daniel: Frankie Treadaway
David Bowie: Jon Culshaw
Gran: Susan Jameson
Grandad: James Bolam
Grown-up Daniel: David Judge
Newsagent and Policeman: Dan Starkey
Paul and Mr Simeon: Kieran O’Brien
Boys: Tom Barnard, Jorge Roberts-Lee and William Stevens

Written by Paul Magrs
Sound design by Benji Clifford
Original score by Sophie Cotton
Produced by Simon Barnard
Directed by Ken Bentley

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 Ramblings (m002pfhb)
Walking Back to Happiness

Clare joins Glenn Meyer in Surrey’s Happy Valley for a walk that celebrates resilience and recovery. During lockdown, Glenn suffered a serious spinal injury after a simple movement on a sun lounger. Over time he lost the ability to walk and became reliant on a wheelchair. Three major operations at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital rebuilt his spine with an internal frame anchored by bolts into his hips. Against the odds, Glenn can now stand and walk and is in training for a 3 day, 37 mile hike from his home in Caterham to the hospital in Stanmore that helped him get back on his feet.

Today’s training walk with Clare is a scenic circuit of around 5 miles, starting at The Fox pub on Coulsdon Common. Glenn and his wife, Hilary, lead Clare into Happy Valley, skirt the Surrey National Golf Course, and pause at Chaldon Church, famed for its medieval mural. The walk continues across Farthing Downs before looping back to Coulsdon Common.

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002pdxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002pfhd)
The Story of A-Z

Michael Rosen goes on an alphabetical odyssey with linguist Dr Danny Bate, author of the book 'Why Q needs U: A History of Our Letters and how We Use Them'. From A through to Z, where did all our letters come from, and how have they changed over time?

Produced in partnership with the Open University by Becky Ripley.


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002q7lr)
Venezuela – what now?

Following the dramatic capture of the President of Venezuela and his wife by US special forces on January 3rd, The Briefing Room asks what’s next for Venezuela? Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores have been indicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges in a New York court while in Venezuela the deputy president, Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as the country’s interim president. Meanwhile Donald Trump says he is in charge of Venezuela. David Aaronovitch and a panel of Latin American experts discuss who will actually govern Venezuela, what’s going to happen with the oil industry and what the implications are for the rest of the region.

GUESTS
Hal Hodson, Americas editor, The Economist
Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America at Chatham House
Vanda Felbab-Brown Senior Fellow Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txt)
How rare are Greenland’s rare earth elements?

President Trump has his sights set on Greenland. If he succeeds, what mineral wealth will he find there? Adrian Finch, Professor of Geology at St Andrews University has been visiting Greenland for more than 3 decades and explains what so called ‘rare earth elements’ are found in Greenland and why.

Professor Danny Altmann talks to Tom Whipple about a new project to understand the genetic and metabolic similarities between two illnesses; Long Covid and ME.
And Lizzie Gibney, senior physics reporter at Nature brings her pick of the best new science this week.

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: Tom Whipple
Producer: Clare Salisbury
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


THU 17:00 PM (m002pfhl)
Protestors and federal agents clash in Minneapolis

US Secretary of Homeland Security defends ICE officer, after woman shot dead. Also on the programme, Storm Goretti hits the UK.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pfhn)
Storm Goretti hits the UK

The Met Office has put in place a rare red weather warning for this evening in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, meaning there is a danger to life. Also: Protesters have clashed with federal agents in the US city of Minneapolis, where a woman was shot dead by immigration officers. And the England cricketer, Harry Brook, has apologised after being involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer.


THU 18:30 What's the Story, Ashley Storrie? (m002pfhq)
Series 3

1. The Best and Worst of Times

Despite a complex childhood, and with her teenage years spent guiding the career of her controversial comedian mother Janey Godley whilst caring for her depressed autistic father, Ashley has just had the most surreal, dramatic, tragic… and successful year of her life.

Her dream job was always in the magical world of TV with all its escapism, justice and happy endings. But the universe has a twisted sense of humour, and just as Ashley finally gets her big break, Janey is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Yay.

In this episode, we jump inside the brilliant and unhinged autistic brain of our “adult perma-child” protagonist and attempt to unspool this tragicomedy with some hilarious digressions en route.

Produced by Julia Sutherland
Sound Design by Sean Kerwin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


THU 19:00 The Archers (m002pff5)
Akram has time on his hands due to a cancelled job. When Tony mentions a predicament with a ripped polytunnel, hoping Helen can attend to the repair while Tom’s out on deliveries, Akram’s happy to offer his help. Later he’s enjoying the sensation of being back on a farm and working outside. But as he tapes up the tear he slips, making the rip in the plastic even bigger. He’s mortified, but Tony assures him that as long as he isn’t hurt, it’s fine. It was kind of Akram to help; they shouldn’t have let him attempt it in such poor weather. Tony observes ruefully that the tear looks unsalvageable, making Akram feel even worse.

Jolene reports to Joy that the police have said their CCTV footage could have been wiped remotely, without anyone needing to access the premises, which makes her feel a bit better. The thought of intruders going through her home makes her skin crawl. She can’t be as confident as Tracy that they won’t come back again. Joy reckons she needs to replace that uneasy feeling with something positive. Jolene rallies and declares she’s spent enough time worrying – they’ll make this the Burns Night Highland games the best the village has ever seen. Joy reports Fallon’s on board, and Jazzer returns as a willing volunteer having had a pep talk from Bert. Later Joy reckons they’ve created a monster, having listened to Jazzer’s gung ho ideas for authenticity. Kenton’s going to have a lot more on his plate than neeps and tatties.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002pfht)
Jessie Buckley on her starring role in the film Hamnet

Jessie Buckley talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her role in the historical drama Hamnet, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's book which explores the origins of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Journalist Bidisha Mamata and writer Mark Ravenhill join Tom to review Hamnet.

They also discuss award-winning author Bryan Washington's Palaver, which focuses on an estranged mother and son who attempt to reconcile in Tokyo.

And they offer their verdict on Sheridan Smith's starring role in a revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind, alongside Romesh Ranganathan in his West End stage debut.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet


THU 20:00 Multitrack (m002kgmf)
The Alcoholic's Tarot

Artist Leon Clowes traces addiction recovery through the lens of a bespoke tarot deck. In a Brighton workshop, Leon invites people touched by addiction to share candid conversations sparked by his alcoholic misfortune-tellings.

The programme explores how addiction speaks to universal human experiences: sadness, resilience, and moments of levity. In partnership with recovery-focused arts organisations in Brighton (small performance adventures and Performing Recovery magazine), The Alcoholic’s Tarot weaves in city textures and intimate storytelling to produce an intimate and poignant portrait of recovery and connection.

Music by Leon Clowes
Produced by Leon Clowes
Commissioned in association with the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002pfbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002pf16)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002pfgm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002pfhw)
Anger in Minnesota over ICE killing of Renee Good

Protests are taking place in the city of Minneapolis, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot dead 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday. Vice President JD Vance today called the dead woman a ‘deranged leftist’. Minnesota governor Tim Walz has said state officials are being frozen out of the investigation by the FBI.

Also on the programme: as Storm Goretti hits the UK and prompts a red warning for "danger to life", we hear live from an emergency responder in the Midlands.

And Baby Elsa, found abandoned in east London two years ago, has been adopted and will see her siblings. A man who was a foundling passes on his lessons for her adoptive parents.


THU 22:45 The Wedding Suit by Rachel Joyce (m002pfhy)
4. The Letter

In a specially commissioned five-part serial, award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce tells the story of Elmer and Gertie, an eccentric and fiercely independent elderly couple living in a dilapidated cottage on the marsh outside a village in the Devon countryside.

Gertie prefers animals to children, and she has a mouth that could strip paint. They have kept themselves to themselves for years, until a letter arrives which will change their lives. Elmer’s brother and his wife have both died, leaving Elmer the legal guardian of their small child. Anyone who lives within a five mile radius knows how unsuitable they are to look after a child. But Elmer senses they are being offered something precious.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, and most recently The Homemade God. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her writing career began in radio drama and she has written many afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as major novel adaptations. Following a sold-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the musical of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (‘pitch perfect’, The Times) opens this month in the West End, and this month also sees the paperback publication of The Homemade God (‘extraordinarily compelling', The Guardian).

The reader, Paul Venables, grew up in Devon, where this story is set. Since training at Central School of Speech and Drama he has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and radio. On Radio 4 he played Henry in The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and had lead roles in Portrait of a Lady and The Professor. He is married to Rachel Joyce, and is currently playing Jakob in The Archers.

Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound Designer : Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002pfj0)
Knowledge and Nostalgia: Why a University Education Should Be Free (Louisa Munch)

What is the point of going to university? In this episode, Amol sits down with the critical theorist, academic and social media influencer Louisa Munch who thinks you shouldn’t have to pay for higher education.

With the graduate premium in decline, she explains why people should go to university to gain knowledge rather than get a job because she believes having an informed society is good for everyone in an era of competing narratives about the past.

She also reflects on why people of her generation feel disillusioned and what can be done to give them some hope for the future.

(00:05:04) What is critical theory?
(00:06:06) Why she believes university should be free
(00:12:50) University as a meritocracy
(00:18:45) Is student debt worth it?
(00:22:06) Thoughts on class divide
(00:26:23) Nostalgia and the far right
(00:37:28) Disenchantment about the future
(00:43:32) Nostalgia in contemporary politics
(00:47:30) Louisa's RADICAL ideas
(00:49:08) Political movements of the next generation

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. Technical production was by Gareth Jones and Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002pfj2)
Sean Curran reports on plans to cut the number of deaths on Britain's roads, a former military chief accuses ministers of "faffing about" on defence spending and the outgoing BBC director general faces questions from MPs.

FRIDAY 09 JANUARY 2026

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002pfj4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pfgt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002pfj6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002pfj8)
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 (m002pfjb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002pfjd)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster as the government unveils its new road safety strategy.


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002pfjg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002pfjj)
Lifted

Good morning.

I’m so grateful that there’s space on the radio for prayer. One of the best habits my parents gave to me was pausing at the end of each day to give thanks, to reflect or just to be still.

I’ve always tried to keep space for daily prayer ever since - sometimes more successfully than others.

Recently, I’ve become more aware of the power of being prayed for - being held before God, or simply present in other’s thoughts and intentions. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve felt supported. I’ve found reserves of courage I didn’t know I had. It’s not that circumstances change; often, something shifts within me instead.

And prayer, or mindful care, is shared. Across the world, people pause every day holding others in hope, compassion, or concern - a kind of unseen relay. Sometimes we’re the ones running strongly, able to help carry others. At other times, we’re tired and grateful when someone else takes the weight. I love the image from an old hymn: “The day Thou gavest” which recalls how as the day ends in one place, care and attention begin in another. Kindness doesn’t sleep. We’re upheld by something larger than our own energy.

So we trust that, held in care - by one another, and perhaps by God - we may find ourselves capable of more than we expected, not by effort alone, but through grace.

Faithful God, thank you for the care that carries us when we’re weary, and the strength we find through others. Help us to receive kindness and to offer it generously, so that we may be part of the good that holds the world together. Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002pfjl)
09/01/26 Politics, protests and Charlotte Church at the Oxford Farming Conferences

The Defra Secretary of State spoke at the Oxford Farming Conference with new announcements for England's environmental farm payments, while protesting farmers in tractors hooted horns outside the hall.
And Charlotte Church opened the Oxford Real Farming Conference with some improvised singing.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002pfdl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 More or Less (m002phnf)
The Stats of the Nation

Immigration, Benefits and Inequality

What kind of state does the UK find itself in as we start 2026? That’s the question Tim Harford and the More or Less team is trying to answer in a series of five special programmes.

In the final episode, we’re looking at the numbers behind some of the UK’s most potent political debates:

Has 98% of the UK’s population growth come from immigration?

Do we spend more on benefits in the UK than in other high-income countries?

Is the gap between rich and poor growing?

Get in touch if you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Contributors:

Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University
Lukas Lehner, Assistant Professor at the University of Edinburgh
Arun Advani, Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation and a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick.
Alex Scholes, Research Director at NatCen

Credits:

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producers: Lizzy McNeill, Nathan Gower, Katie Solleveld and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Sarah Hockley and James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon


FRI 09:30 Illuminated (m002bs1n)
The Organ Symphony

An extraordinary one-off symphony brings to life the stories of five people and their relationship with one of their vital organs.

Like a symphony orchestra, our organs work in harmony to execute the movement that is human life. We don’t often think about our relationship to these internal cogs that keep us alive. For most people, the connection remains distant. For others, it is ever present.

In The Organ Symphony, we encounter our five vital organs – the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys and liver – through the eyes of five people, each with a special relationship to one of the five organs.

Our brain is an Emeritus Professor in Computer Science, Steve Furbar, whose work is focused on understanding the human brain via computing. Our kidney is writer Alison Moore, who donated one of her kidneys to her husband and simultaneously wrote a horror novella, based on the experience. Our liver is Dr Zhong Jiao, a Chinese Medical Doctor who focused on treating her postnatal depression by caring for her liver. Our heart is a men's group facilitator and agony uncle Kenny Mammarella-D'Cruz, who draws on his traumatic experiences of leaving his homeland and subsequent journey of self-discovery to help others foster positive relationships with their heart and emotions. Liz, our representative of the lungs, unexpectedly experienced both her lungs collapsing in the space of two years

Each representative worked with the producer, Maia Miller-Lewis to illustrate their relationship to their organ through music, creating musical sketches that capture how they imagine their organ sounds.

These sketches were then taken by composer, David Owen Norris, who turned them into individual classical scores. In this way the five organs have become five sections of an orchestra. The heart, the vocals. The lungs, the brass. The kidneys the woodwind. The brain, the percussion. The liver, the strings.

David ultimately brought the five pieces together, working them into harmony to form the completely unique Organ Symphony.

With the wonderful assistance of Simon Webb, Carolyn Hendry, Jonathan Manner and Matthew Swann at the BBC, the individual pieces and the combined symphony was played out by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers at Maida Vale Studios in March 2025.

You can hear the full Organ Symphony piece here: https://loftusmedia.co.uk/project/the-organ-symphony/

Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive producers: Jo Rowntree and Kirsten Lass
Composer and conductor: David Owen Norris
With thanks to the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002pfdn)
Women in Iran, Chloé Zhao, the Bar Council, Lesley Sharp

Iran has been in the news, with protests building over the last 13 days. Commentators say that what started as a protest about the economy has now turned into a call for regime change, and for women's rights. There are reports that young women are fearlessly taking to the streets, flouting compulsory hijab rules and risking arrest. Anita Rani talks to the BBC's Global Women's reporter Feranak Amidi, an Iranian who lived there until she was 30, and has been following events closely.

Chloé Zhao is only the second woman and first woman of colour to win an Oscar for Best Director. She returns with one of the year’s most anticipated films: Hamnet. Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, it reimagines the lives of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare, exploring how the loss of their 11-year-old son Hamnet shaped their marriage and inspired Hamlet. Chloe co-wrote and directed the film and speaks to Anita.

Kirsty Brimelow KC has been appointed Chair of the Bar Council and is the first to lead an entirely female senior leadership team. A specialist in human rights, criminal and public law, she takes on the role of representing around 18,000 practicing barristers in England and Wales. Anita asks about her plans for the role.

ITV’s compelling action-aviation drama Red Eye is back for a second series with the actor Lesley Sharp playing the cool-headed MI5 boss, Madeleine Delaney. In this new conspiracy, Madeleine is flying in a small plane from Washington DC when she receives a message that there’s a bomb on board which will be detonated if certain conditions aren’t met. Lesley speaks to Anita about that role, and her acting career to date, including the new film Pillion.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Corinna Jones


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002pfdq)
Desi Pubs

Desi pubs, boozers run by people of South Asian heritage, have been around since the 1960s. Originally a safe haven for immigrant drinkers during a time when they were often barred or excluded from pubs, they are now celebrated as successful businesses and diverse spaces. They are also food destinations serving some of the best grills and curries in the country. In this programme, Jaega Wise visits desi pubs in London and the Midlands to talk to landlords and drinkers about why these places are so special. She also interviews author David Jesudason on his books Desi Pubs: A guide to British-Indian Pints, Food and Culture.

Pubs featured:
The Gladstone Arms, Borough in London
The Red Lion, West Bromwich
The Red Cow, Smethwick
The Regency Club, Queensbury in London

She also talks to journalist Nina Robinson and curator/historian Raj Pal. His podcast with Corinne Fowler is Only in Birmingham

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sam Grist


FRI 11:45 Overwhelmed by Claudia Hammond (m002pfds)
5. Good Stress and Getting Over Yourself

Psychologist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind Claudia Hammond reads from her new book on the 21st-century phenomenon of overwhelm.

All of us know the unsettling sensation of acceleration - the feeling that there's too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the pressure is relentless. There is always something new, something more, something better. Even switching off seems impossible. This is overwhelm: that persistent feeling that you can't cope, that the demands on you are excessive, that you can't see a way out.

From perfectionism, to overconfidence, fear of regret to coping with the stress, Hammond offers fascinating personal stories, calm and convincing analysis, as well as the tools to take on everything life throws at us.

Today: good stress, and the rewards of embracing our insignificance...

Written and read by: Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and presenter of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind.
Abridger: Julian Wilkinson
Producer: Justine Willett


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002pfdv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002pfdx)
Bikinis and AI

Elon Musk's social networking site X has restricted access to one of the features on its artificial intelligence chat-bot called Grok, because of a global outcry. It allows users to alter photos, for example changing a person's clothes - without their permission. With a simple instruction a man's trousers can become swimming trunks -- and more frequently -- a woman can be made to wear a bikini.

The platform faced a backlash with governments around the world calling for urgent action and some politicians calling for X to be banned.

We hear from someone whose image was manipulated without her consent and from someone who uses it in her business career. So is A.I. image manipulation a force for good or not?

Presenter: Adam Fleming
Production team: Emma Close, Natasha Fernandes and Tom Gillett
Studio manager: Andrew Mills
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002pfdz)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002pff1)
Iran Protests Spread

Internet blackout across Iran as protests enter 13th day. How much jeopardy is there for the regime? Also this lunchtime, reports from across the country as Storm Goretti brings extreme weather. We hear from Stoke on Trent where a PFI contract has left pupils shivering in exams. And, as the government prepares to change course on business rates for pubs, we examine the history of political U-turns.


FRI 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002pff3)
Series 2

Exiles: Ovid

Naomi Alderman returns with her series that explores the minds of the greatest thinkers in history. From political theorists to scientists to inventors, authors and artists. Our world is based on their ideas and innovations. How did they do their work, what did they struggle with, where did they find their dedication, creativity and inspiration?

The poet Ovid was a brilliant thinker. His masterwork, the Metamorphoses, effortlessly weaves together hundreds of myths into a coherent narrative - it’s because of Ovid that we know of these myths, and we wouldn’t have the mythological richness in later writers including Shakespeare without him.

But Ovid’s life contains a mystery and a tragedy. Without warning, the Emperor Augustus decided to send him into exile - to Tomis on the Black Sea, in modern-day Romania. And it changed Ovid’s thinking. Ovid turned his image into one that has endured: a man who was martyred for free speech.

Special thanks to Gail Trimble Fellow in Classics at Trinity College Oxford.

Produced by BBC Studios in partnership with The Open University.

Presenter: Naomi Alderman
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Amelia Paul
Researchers: Harry Burton, Martha Owen and Victoria Brignell
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Series Producer: Anishka Sharma
Production Manager: Jo Kyle


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002pff5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002pff7)
Spores: Series 2

Episode 4. Devil’s Agent

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.

Written and created 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
Layla Wolf ..... Laila Alj

Other voices played by the cast

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 Materials of State (m002mmm4)
The Union Jack

In his new series, David Cannadine examines the artefacts and emblems that shape the British constitution - their origins, their meanings, and their significance today.

These ‘materials of state’ range from the parliamentary Black Rod to the ancient Stone of Destiny, the ceremonial Sword of State, to the democratic Ballot Box. They're invested with historic meanings and symbolic connotations by those who see these objects as the embodiment of history, identity and tradition. But they also provoke dissent and disagreement from those who view them in a more negative and critical light.

In this first programme, David explores the history of the Union Jack, as one of the UK’s key ‘materials of state’, an object whose significance reflects the nation’s history, identity and political debates. The flag originated in 1606 after the union of the English and Scottish crowns, later incorporating Ireland’s St Patrick’s cross in 1801. Its composite design tells the story of the Union, though modern nationalism has revived separate national flags within the UK.

Over time, the flag’s popularity has surged and waned, and the Union Jack has served variously as an imperial emblem, a commercial brand, a counter-cultural icon, and a fashion motif. Its meanings have shifted from representing empire and Protestantism, to being appropriated by far-right groups, and now symbolising a multicultural society for many citizens. Today, amid debates over Brexit, immigration and national identity, the Union Jack again provokes strong feelings. Whether loved or loathed, the Union Jack remains a contested and symbolically charged national emblem.

Contributors in order of appearance:
Professor Nick Groom, Author of ‘The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag’
Christopher Taylor, Director of ‘Flying Colours’ Flagmakers
Sunder Katwala, Director of ‘British Future’ and author of ‘How to be a Patriot’
Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford

Presented by Professor Sir David Cannadine
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
Series Researcher: Martin Spychal
Sound Mixing: Tony Churnside

The series has been made in association with the History of Parliament Trust

A Zinc Audio production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002pff9)
Firth of Tay

Do the panel have any unusual gardening habits? Can I grow a Walnut tree in Dundee?

Kathy Clugston heads to the stunning Firth of Tay with a hand-picked panel of gardening experts, ready to answer questions from an enthusiastic, plant-loving audience.

Joining Kathy are garden designers, botanists and allotmenteers Matthew Pottage, Kirsty Wilson and Neil Porteous, bringing their wealth of knowledge and practical tips to the discussion.

Also, Bunny Guinness shares her gardening resolutions for the year ahead, offering inspiration for anyone planning a fresh start in their own green spaces.

Senior Producer: Dan Cocker
Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002pffc)
Morags

Morag only agreed to visit the Callanish Stones to get close to Felix. Instead, she’s about to receive an unsettling gift in a new story from Camilla Grudova.

Read by Nicola Roy
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Camilla Grudova is based in Edinburgh. Her publications include the story collection, “The Doll’s Alphabet” and Women’s Prize longlisted novel, “Children of Paradise”. In 2023 she was named one of Grant’s ‘Best of Young British Novelists’.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002pfff)
Molly Parkin, Kristina Gjerde, Michael Barton, Eva Schloss

Matthew Bannister on

The colourful life of artist, fashion editor, sex columnist and bonkbuster author Molly Parkin. Her daughter shares the highs and lows of living with Molly.

Kristina Gjerde, the maritime lawyer who fought to protect the high seas.

Michael Barton, the BBC executive who oversaw the expansion of English local radio

Eva Schloss, the holocaust survivor who became Anne Frank’s stepsister.

Producer: Ed Prendeville
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley

Archive used
Breakfast Time, BBC 1, 12/02/1986; Outlook, BBC World Service,27/01/2022; BBC Sound Archive, Murrow, Edward R, CBS Recording, 13/03/1938; BBC Sound Archive, Sinclair W.A.,19/05/1940; Learning about the Past to Make a Better Future, YouTube Upload, Anne Frank Trust UK, 24/03/2021; News – Gulf War special, BBC 1, 20/01/1991; Neighbours Shall Speak, BBC Archives; Archive on 4 : Close to Home - The Story of Local Radio, BBC Radio 4, 12/11/2017; The Time of your life – Molly Parkin, BBC 1, 08/06/1984; Molly Parkin – Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 13/05/2011; The Seven Ages of Man : Molly Parkin, BBC 2, 12/08/1996; Wogan, BBC 1, 03/12/1990; Dr Harriet Harden-Davies’ personal recording of Kristina Gjerde, 2024


FRI 16:30 Illuminated (m002bvgc)
Mum in a Box

As their 30th birthday approaches, Saba Husain (they/them) receives an unexpected and life changing box. It contains ‘the life’ of their mum; never before seen diaries, love letters, poems, photos of a person who died when Saba was born, 29 years earlier.

With no note or message, it must have been sent by Saba’s father - but why now? Why not before? And what should Saba do with these incredibly intimate pieces of their mother? Saba starts to investigate, asking; how do you get to know your mum - from scratch - through a box of her things?

Mum in a Box follows Saba on the twists and turns of the often unacknowledged experience of a motherless child, piecing together a person through the things they’ve left behind and the revelations that unfold. We join Saba as they work through this totally uncurated box of both overwhelming and underwhelming surprises, travelling through space and time as they try to reach a mother that they never got to meet.

Producer: Christina Hardinge
Co-creator: Saba Husain
Sound Design & Music composition: Noémie Ducimetière
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four


FRI 17:00 PM (m002pffh)
Iran's supreme leader vows protest crackdown

After 12 days of unrest, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called protesters 'a bunch of vandals'. How much of a threat do they pose to his regime? Plus, the government faces off with X over Grok, the latest on Storm G


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002pffk)
Elon Musk's social media platform limits access to its AI tool

Downing Street has expressed outrage at changes introduced by the social media platform, X, to address concerns about its AI tool Grok. Also: Iran's Revolutionary Guard has warned it won't tolerate the current unrest in the country, as protests continue for a thirteenth day. And the National Grid says it is working to restore power to tens of thousands of homes after Storm Goretti brought heavy snow to parts of Wales and England.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002pffm)
Series 119

1. Red, White, Blue and Green-land

With Andy away at The Ashes, guest host Ian Smith steps in to make sense of a dramatic news week. Topics include the US capturing Nicolás Maduro and threatening to invade Greenland, new driving rules for the over 70s and the problem with Grok AI. Helping Ian decide which way to turn are Ria Lina, Hugo Rifkind, Lucy Porter and Geoff Norcott.

Written by Ian Smith.

With additional material by: Mike Shephard, Alex Kealy and Angela Channell
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002pffq)
Eddie bumps into Brian, and puts right the fact that he’s never properly apologised to him for what George did to Alice. Brian’s appreciative. Eddie should be at a family lunch with George, but he can’t bring himself to go, despite it putting him in the doghouse with Will. Brian wonders if he can be of help, but Eddie says he’s just missing Joe, and feels too old for all this trouble. Brian sympathises, and tries to cheer Eddie up. Eddie brightens slightly, reporting he’s been saving up good quality hay to sell. Brian promises to ask Alice if she wants some – she has no issue with Eddie.

Back at Grange Farm, Will’s disgusted at his dad’s absence, and leaves with George. Emma tells him later how upset Clarrie is. Will’s grateful Emma stayed with her. George hears that Markie’s gang has been charged with the attack. It’s a relief, but Emma still can’t relax.

Clarrie tells Eddie that George was heartbroken at his no-show – doesn’t Eddie think he’s been punished enough? Eddie reckons that doesn’t equal forgiveness. He moves on to the hay, and Clarrie despairs. Their family’s falling apart, and he's on another get rich quick scheme! Eddie declares he’s as worried as Clarrie, but farm life goes on. Clarrie retorts he’s like a different person. Eddie ponders – maybe he is.

Emma presses George on what else he can remember, in case he has to go to court. He doesn’t come up with much; he’s just glad it’s over, and they can get on with their lives.


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002pffs)
Stephen King

Fifty years on from the release of the film Carrie, directed by Brian DePalma and based on the first novel by Stephen King, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at King adaptations on screen, from The Shawshank Redemption to The Shining. Why is the work of the modern horror maestro so often adapted? And what is the best ever Stephen King adaptation?

Ellen hears from US critic and writer Maitland McDonagh, who has been a front-row witness to King on screen for five decades, about her favourite adaptations of his work - from Misery to The Monkey.

And Ellen speaks to Edgar Wright - the director of Shaun Of The Dead, Baby Driver and the most recent King adaptation to reach cinema screens - The Running Man.

Meanwhile, Mark talks to Mike Flanagan - the filmmaker who, perhaps more than any other in recent years, has helped keep King's work vividly alive on screen, with adaptations of Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep, The Life of Chuck and a forthcoming new take on Carrie.

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


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002pffv)
Gerard Baker, Baroness Fall, Andrew Fisher, Baroness Hazarika

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from M Shed in Bristol with the editor-at-large of the Wall Street Journal, Gerard Baker; Conservative peer Baroness Fall, former deputy chief of staff to David Cameron when he was prime minister; i Paper columnist Andrew Fisher, who was the Labour Party's executive director of policy during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership; and Labour peer and broadcaster, Baroness Hazarika.

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


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002pfb1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002pffx)
Innovation

Are we addicted to novelty? What are the cultural settings that allow innovation to flourish? And are novelty and innovation things we've always valued?
Matthew Sweet is joined by writer and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan, Professor of Innovation Tim Minshall, and historians Agnes Arnold-Forster, and Christina Faraday.

Tim Minshall is the author of Your Life is Manufactured.
Margaret Heffernan's most recent book is Embracing Uncertainty
Agnes Arnold-Foster has written Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion
Christina Faraday is the author of The Story of Tudor Art
Nick Hilton, presenter of The Ned Ludd Radio Hour podcast

Producer: Luke Mulhall


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002pffz)
Calls to ban Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool over sexual images

Some people have used Grok to create sexualised images of children and women, and Downing Street has today accused social media site X, which runs the AI tool, of "insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence" with its response to criticism. The company said it has now limited the use of this image function to those who pay a monthly fee.

We hear from the mother of one of Elon Musk’s children who claims the AI tool was used to create sexual images of her as a child.

Also on the programme: President Trump warns Iran’s regime against violently suppressing protests; NASA astronauts forced to return home due to medical issue on board the International Space Station.


FRI 22:45 The Wedding Suit by Rachel Joyce (m002pfg1)
5. The Hearing

In a specially commissioned five-part serial, award-winning novelist Rachel Joyce tells the story of Elmer and Gertie, an eccentric and fiercely independent elderly couple living in a dilapidated cottage on the marsh outside a village in the Devon countryside.

Gertie prefers animals to children, and she has a mouth that could strip paint. They have kept themselves to themselves for years, until a letter arrives which will change their lives. Elmer’s brother and his wife have both died, leaving Elmer the legal guardian of their small child. Anyone who lives within a five mile radius knows how unsuitable they are to look after a child. But Elmer senses they are being offered something precious.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, and most recently The Homemade God. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

Her writing career began in radio drama and she has written many afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as major novel adaptations. Following a sold-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the musical of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (‘pitch perfect’, The Times) opens this month in the West End, and this month also sees the paperback publication of The Homemade God (‘extraordinarily compelling', The Guardian).

The reader, Paul Venables, grew up in Devon, where this story is set. Since training at Central School of Speech and Drama he has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and radio. On Radio 4 he played Henry in The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and had lead roles in Portrait of a Lady and The Professor. He is married to Rachel Joyce, and is currently playing Jakob in The Archers.

Producer: Sara Davies
Production Hub Co-ordinator: Dawn Williams
Sound Designer : Matt Bainbridge

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8byz)
Can the US really rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry?

In the fallout of Nicolas Maduro’s dramatic capture from Venezuela to the US, Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to obtain Venezuelan oil, which he says is integral for keeping prices low in America.

He’s also pledged to have the US oil industry operating in Venezuela within 18 months and that there would be huge private-sector investments into the country. Reports suggest representatives from major US petroleum companies are due to meet the Trump administration this week.

Not everyone is convinced by the president’s plans. Some analysts told the BBC it could take tens of billions of dollars - and potentially a decade - to restore Venezuela's former output, which has been in decline since the early 2000s.

In this episode, Justin sits down with US energy expert Robert Bryce to explore the unique challenges of reforming Venezuela’s oil industry and the mistakes that the president will have to avoid to prevent the collapse in Iraq’s oil industry following the US invasion in 2003. What reassurances would private firms need to operate, and what would it take to reverse the problems that have plagued Venezuela’s oil industry since the presidency of Hugo Chavez?


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002pfg3)
Alicia McCarthy with news and views from parliament. Tonight, peers continue to debate plans for assisted dying and a group of MPs investigates black homelessness.