SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2026
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002qh36)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 Craftland (m002qh1m)
Episode 5
Britain has always been a craft land. For generations what we made with our hands defined our identities, built our communities and shaped our regions. Craftland chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions that once governed every aspect of life on these shores.
For as long as there are humans, there will be craft. It's all around us, hiding in plain sight, enriching even the most modest things. And in this increasingly digital age, it is perhaps more valuable than ever.
Craftland is a celebration of that deeply necessary connection between our creative instincts and the material world we inhabit, revealing a richer and more connected way of living.
James Fox is an academic and multi-award-winning nominated broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the arts and crafts across Britain.
Written and Read by James Fox
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qh38)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qh3b)
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 (m002qh3d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qh3g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qh3j)
Winter this one out
Good morning!
And if you’ve been observing ‘dry January’ – the increasingly popular habit among drinkers of abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year to atone for Christmas excess – congratulations, you’ve reached the last day of your month-long fast.
Despite the habit of new year resolutions, January has always seemed to me a cruel time of year in the northern hemisphere to take on austere practices.
Sure, the turn of the year chimes well with the idea of new beginnings. But who actually relishes the prospect of embarking on a new exercise or diet regime when the weather is so cold and often miserable?
Wintering Out is one of my favourite poetry collections by the late Co. Derry poet and Nobel laureate Séamus Heaney.
Heaney saw ‘wintering out’ as perseverance in difficult times.
“If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere,” he famously said of his inspiration - offering comfort and hope that overcoming difficult times would lead to better days.
It is hope like this that has sustained people is some of the most difficult moments in human history.
It’s true in our own lives too. Dark and cold times are lived in the knowledge that one day there will again be light and warmth.
Farmers and people close to the land know that you have to have faith that what you plant in the ground will one day blossom, even if it often lies hidden from view while it slowly grows.
Today, I pray to have the patience to winter this one out, knowing that as sure as the daylight follows the darkness of night – the spring will soon follow the winter.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 Materials of State (m002mp9t)
Black Rod
David Cannadine continues examining the origins, symbolism and contemporary significance of the objects and emblems that underpin the British constitution.
In episode 4, he’s looking at Black Rod, which is unusual among our ‘materials of state’ for being both a person and an object.
Black Rod refers to both a senior parliamentary officer and the physical ebony staff carried by that officer. The role dates back nearly 600 years to King Edward III and the founding of the Order of the Garter. By the 16th century, the role became a fixture at the Palace of Westminster, responsible for access, order and discipline, functions that continue today. David meets the newly appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, Ed Davis, and a former Black Rod, David Leakey, to discuss what the role entails.
The most public and iconic part of Black Rod's duties is during the State Opening of Parliament. Dressed in ceremonial costume, Black Rod is sent to summon MPs from the House of Commons to listen to the Monarch’s speech in the House of Lords, but the door is traditionally slammed in their face to symbolise the Commons' independence from the Crown. The officer then knocks three times with the base of the rod before being admitted. Despite objections to this pomp and ceremony from people like Dennis Skinner MP, David concludes the role and tradition of both the person, and the object, remains secure for now.
Contributors in order of appearance:
Ed Davis, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod
David Leakey, former Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod
Eloise Donnelly, Curator of Historic Furniture and Decorative Art at the Houses of Parliament
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
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002qr9w)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m002qj8w)
Ghosts of the Farm with Nicola Chester
Clare joins writer Nicola Chester for a circular walk from her home in the village of Inkpen in West Berkshire. Despite recently breaking her leg in an unfortunate tangle of dog zoomies, Nicola is back on her feet and eager to share the landscapes that have shaped both her life and her books. Their route takes them through Manor Farm, the setting for her latest work, and up towards Inkpen Beacon, a hill familiar to Clare from childhood climbs.
As they walk, Nicola reflects on her lifelong desire to farm, the barriers faced by women in agriculture, and the remarkable story of Miss Julia White, a pioneering farmer whose life she explores in her new book Ghosts of the Farm: Two Women’s Journeys Through Time, Land and Community.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002qr9y)
31/01/26 Farming Today This Week: Sustainable Foods 2026, extreme weather and rural resilience, octopus bloom
Sustainable Foods 2026: a conference in London which brings together big food companies, supermarkets, producers and scientists in a drive to transform our food systems - but what does it mean for agriculture?
Flooded farmers say government needs to spend more on infrastructure to make rural communities are more resilient in the face of climate change.
The secret lives of octopus, revealed in new report. Their numbers have increased dramatically - what is the impact on the fishing industry?
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002qrb0)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002qrb2)
Today (Saturday)
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002qrb4)
Amanda Owen, Curious Incidents, Brain Rest and the Inheritance Tracks of Mika
The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen, Dr Joseph Jebelli on the power of doing nothing, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time author Mark Haddon.
SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002qrb6)
Geoffrey Chaucer: the medieval father of English literature
Greg Jenner is joined in medieval England by Professor Marion Turner and comedian Mike Wozniak to learn all about Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales. Since the fifteenth century, Chaucer has been referred to as the father of English literature. He was one of the first authors to champion the use of Middle English for poetry instead of Latin, and after the invention of the printing press, his works became the foundation of the English literary canon – long before Shakespeare ever put quill to parchment. But Chaucer’s life was as extraordinary as his legacy, living as he did through the Black Death, the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, and the Peasants’ Revolt. In this episode, Greg and his guests explore Chaucer’s dramatic biography: growing up the son of a wine merchant in fourteenth-century London, his work for the royal court and long career as a medieval civil servant, his relationship with John of Gaunt through his mistress Katherine Swynford, and his travels throughout Europe. They also examine the poets that influenced him – including Petrarch, Bocaccio and Dante – and take a deep dive into the famous Canterbury Tales.
If you’re a fan of medieval literature, historical courtroom dramas, and the tumult of fourteenth-century England, you’ll love our episode on Geoffrey Chaucer.
If you want more literary history with Mike Wozniak, listen to our episodes on Charles Dickens at Christmas and the Legends of King Arthur. And for more fourteenth-century lives, check out our episode on medieval Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta.
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: Rosalyn Sklar
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 Rewinder (m002qrb8)
Ping Pong Pussy
Greg James is back for another trip into the BBC Archives, and into the past, using the big stories of the week and your suggestions to guide him to audio gold.
This week, as Alex Honnold scales a skyscraper live on Netflix, Greg finds out that the BBC was there first. In 1967 they undertook a colossal logistical operation to bring viewers a live programme over two days following six climbers as they ascended the Old Man of Hoy, a 450-foot rock stack off the coast of Orkney. With no electricity or accommodation available the BBC drafted in the army, and 15 million viewers were gripped by the pictures of climbers hanging off the edge of the crumbling rock.
A listener request takes Greg to the children's TV programme Why Don't You, which ran from 1973 to 1995, was presented by children, and showed a range of crafts, tricks and hobbies that kids could do rather than watching TV. Stamp collecting...brass rubbing...and hovercraft building.
With social media full of people posting their pictures and videos from 2016, Greg goes one step further and searches the archive for 1916 instead. He finds an extraordinary and moving firsthand account of the Battle of the Somme.
And as Timothee Chalamet earns multiple award nominations for playing a ping pong supremo in Marty Supreme, what happens if you put the words 'ping' and 'pong' into the archive? You find a ping pong playing cat, of course.
Producer: Tim Bano
An EcoAudio Certified production
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002qrbb)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002qrbd)
Iran: Stories of a massacre
Kate Adie introduces stories from Iran, Myanmar, China, South Africa and Lithuania.
The number of Iranian people killed by government forces in the crackdown on recent protests is now estimated to be at least 6000, with thousands more deaths being investigated by human rights groups. BBC Persian’s Parham Ghobadi has been speaking to people in Tehran about their experience of the protests.
The final round of elections took place in Myanmar last weekend, five years after a coup returned the military junta to power - though many observers regard the whole affair as a sham. Jonathan Head was given rare permission to report from within Myanmar - though found fear and surveillance at every turn.
Sir Keir Starmer’s trip to Beijing was the first by a UK Prime Minister since 2018 and has been seen as a critical moment in the British government’s attempt to reboot its relationship with China. Laura Bicker reflects on what's in it for President Xi - and how he is looking to take advantage of Donald Trump's rocky relationship with the world.
Over the last decade South Africa has made steady progress on bringing down the infection and mortality rates of Tuberculosis. However, that progress is now under threat as foreign aid cuts begin to bite. Sandra Kanthal reports from Cape Town.
Lithuania's Jewish community numbers just a few thousand, though prior to World War Two the population was around 200,000 - the majority of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. Today Lithuania is home to several memorial sites remembering those who died and Max Eastermann recently visited to trace the homes - and graves - of his recently discovered ancestors.
Producer: Serena Tarling
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002qrbg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002qrbj)
Report Fraud and Student Loans
Billions of pounds is lost each year to fraud, be that by criminals simply stealing someone's money or by thieves tricking victims into giving them their details before draining their bank accounts. It's a crime that is massively under-reported, with very low conviction rates too. To tackle this, a new agency's been created called 'Report Fraud'. It replaces the problematic "Action Fraud" which had been the place for victims to report fraud for over a decade. Paul Lewis interviews Chief Superintendent Amanda Wolf who's the Head of Report Fraud.
There are calls for a cut in the interest rate on some student loans. In recent weeks some graduates have been saying they feel they were missold their loans, because they're only paying off interest on what they owe, despite high levels of payments. The Department for Education says that its making what it called "tough but fair" decisions to protect taxpayers and students. We'll discuss that with the Higher Education Policy Institute.
There is growing pressure from charities and MPs for the government to introduce statutory regulation of the bailiff sector in England and Wales as a matter of urgency. Campaigners say it's about making sure people who are in debt aren't on the receiving end of bad practice form bailiffs breaking the rules.
And half a million households on heat networks now have new protections when it comes to their heating bills.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Bisi Adebayo and Dan Whitworth
Researcher: Niamh McDermott
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast on Radio 4
12pm Saturday 31st January 2026)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002qh2l)
Series 119
4. By-elections, hello defections
On the agenda this week is Starmer vs Burnham in Labour's latest civil war, Suella Braverman’s defection to Reform, and working out how to save The Great British pub. To get to the bottom of all this, Andy is joined by Daliso Chaponda, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Hugo Rifkind and Holly Walsh.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Christina Riggs, Cameron Loxdale and Sarah Mills
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002qrbl)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002qrbn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002qh2s)
Stuart Andrew MP, Annabel Denham, Lilian Greenwood MP, Ash Sarkar
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from St Paul's Church in Fazeley, near Tamworth in Staffordshire with the shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew MP; senior political commentator at The Telegraph, Annabel Denham; transport minister Lilian Greenwood MP; and the contributing editor of Novara Media, Ash Sarkar.
Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant producer: Jo Dwyer
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcast engineer: Phil Zentner
Editor: Robin Markwell
SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002qrbq)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002qh2n)
Writer: Liz John
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe
25th - 30th January
Ben Archer.... Ben Norris
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter.... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin
Justin Elliott.... Simon Williams
Mick Fadmoor.... Martin Barrass
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
George Grundy ... Angus Stobie
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Akram Malik.... Asif Khan
Azra Malik.... Yasmin Wilde
Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller.... Annabelle Dowler
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
SAT 15:00 Spotlight (m001v1mt)
Bacon in Moscow
How Francis Bacon became the first major Western artist to have a solo exhibition in the Soviet Union. Written by Stephen Wakelam, based on the memoir by James Birch.
In 1986, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers had adopted glasnost (openness) as a political slogan, together with the terms perestroika (restructuring or regrouping) and demokratizatsiya (democratisation). Glasnost reflected a commitment of the Gorbachev administration to allowing Soviet citizens to discuss publicly the problems of their system and to explore potential solutions.
On the 22nd September 1988 a retrospective of paintings from all periods of Francis Bacon’s work opened at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. The exhibition was the result of a complex and convoluted negotiation by London gallerist James Birch. In his early 30s, Birch had known Bacon since childhood. The highs and lows of his struggles; with Soviet officialdom and the 79 year old artist, form the basis of this play.
Francis Bacon …Timothy Spall
James Birch … Luke Norris
Sergei Klokov … Simonas Mozura
Elena Khudiakova/ Valerie Beston/ TV Interviewer … Amrita Acharia
Johnny Stuart/ John Edwards … John Hopkins
Bob Chenciner/ British Council/ Taxi Driver … Al Barclay
Russian Official/ Guard/ Vasili … Michael Tcherepashenets
Sound design by Markus Andreas and Alisdair McGregor
Directed and produced by Jeremy Mortimer
Production coordinator Annie Keates Thorpe
Executive Producer Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
SAT 16:30 Woman's Hour (m002qrbt)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Pensions gender gap, Winter Olympics, Paris Paloma
There's been a stark warning to MPs about the number of women pensioners living in poverty. The House of Commons Work and Pensions committee has been hearing the pension system is dysfunctional, and contributing to more gender disparity, that's according to the feminist economic think tank the Women's Budget Group, which gave evidence this week. Anita Rani is joined by their incoming director Dr Daniella Jenkins and Sarah Pennells, consumer specialist at Royal London finance company.
It's less than a week to go until the Winter Olympics gets underway in Italy. With a record 47% of female athletes competing, the games will be the most gender-balanced in Winter Olympic history. Two women who are gearing up to cover every twist and turn of these Games are former two-time Winter Olympic snowboarder and broadcaster Aimee Fuller and Jeanette Kwayke, who'll be fronting the BBC's coverage as part of an all-female line up alongside Clare Balding and Hazel Irvine.
The writer and performer Paris Paloma has a new single out today about women’s bodies called Good Girl. Paloma joins Anita to sing and talk about her music, including her 2023 track Labour about women’s unpaid work which started a social media trend as women around the world related the song to their own experiences with sexism.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
SAT 17:00 PM (m002qrbw)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002qrby)
Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv: From boxing to politics
How did the world heavyweight champion end up running a city of 3 million people in wartime?
Vitali Klitschko joins Nick from the Ukrainian capital in the midst of a Russian campaign to descimate the city's energy infrastructure.
He talks about what peace could look like, the lessons he learned from living under Soviet rule as a child, and why he decided to abandon a lucrative life in the US to enter Ukrainian politics.
Senior producer: Daniel Kraemer
Producer: Flora Murray
Sound: Ged Sudlow
Editor: Giles Edwards
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002qrc0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002qrc2)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qrc4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002qrc6)
Marcus Brigstocke, Ashley Storrie, Louise Welsh, Stuart Maconie, Rum Ragged, Hen Hoose Collective
Stuart Maconie is in Glasgow for the city's annual folk, roots and world music festival - Celtic Connections.
He's joined by comedian Marcus Brigstocke, whose tour Vitruvian Mango sees him trying to figure out what it is to be a man, and why he feels like more of one when his wife asks him to reach something from a high shelf.
Ashley Storrie will be chatting all about the new series of her award-winning BBC show Dinosaur. Autistic palaeontologist Nina is knee-deep in mud on an Isle of Wight dig site, living the dream. Well, either that or she's desperately missing reality tv marathons on her own sofa with some sausage rolls.
In writer Louise Welsh's latest novel The Cut Up, Glasgow auctioneer Rilke is once again drawn in to drama, murder and detective work, as he curses his very loyal but very troublesome friends.
With performances from Newfoundland folk band Rum Ragged who are keeping the music of their Canadian island home alive. Plus Glasgow-based female and non-binary music collective Hen Hoose share a track from new album The Twelve.
Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Production Coordinator: Lauren Stewart
Engineers: Andrew Hay, Fiona Johnstone, Sean Mullervy
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002qrc8)
Stephen Miller
The fatal shooting of two Minnesota residents by federal agents has contributed to the fiercest public backlash yet against the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policy. The man widely seen as the driving force behind this controversial approach, is White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller.
Born in 1985 and raised in liberal Santa Monica, California, Miller is the grandson of Jewish refugees. Outspoken from an early age, he made his name as a teenager through conservative talk radio appearances and student newspaper columns, before gaining national attention at Duke University defending members of the lacrosse team falsely accused of rape.
From fringe political outsider to trusted adviser, Miller has gone on to shape some of the most consequential policies of the Trump era, including the so-called Muslim travel ban and family separations at the border. So, as immigration once again dominates the US news agenda, Becky Milligan examines how he got here.
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002qj8c)
Jonathan Pryce
Award-winning actor Jonathan Pryce talks to John Wilson about his cultural influences and career. He made his name with the 1975 Trevor Griffiths play Comedians, his role as a stand-up comic winning him a Tony Award after it moved to Broadway. He won an Olivier Award for a landmark production of Hamlet in 1980, and another Tony for his role as The Engineer in Miss Saigon. His huge and diverse list of film credits include Terry Gilliam’s 1985 dystopian drama Brazil, the musical Evita alongside Madonna and, an Oscar nominated performance as Pope Francis in The Two Popes. And he’s been increasingly prolific in the age of television streaming with acclaim for his roles in Game Of Thrones, The Crown, Taboo, Slow Horses and Wolf Hall.
Sir Jonathen Pryce was knighted for services to drama in 2021.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002qrcb)
Taxi Driver at 50: New York, Then and Now
It’s 50 years since the film Taxi Driver was released in 1976. The story of Travis Bickle, a loner and cab driver, who tries to save a 14-year-old sex worker from the mean streets of 1970s New York was controversial at the time for its violence and sexual theme but is considered a classic today.
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the film's creation and how New York decayed into the condition which forms the backdrop for the story - and what the city is like today, half a century later.
Producer: Julia Hayball
A Certain Height production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 Artworks (m002f8lq)
Three Transformations of Virginia Woolf
1. Inner Lives
'Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.'
A century on from the publication of Mrs Dalloway, Fiona Shaw explores what Virginia Woolf has to say to us today. With Clarissa Dalloway as our guide, we discover how Woolf captured and critiqued a modern world that was transforming around her, treated mental health as a human experience rather than a medical condition, and challenged gender norms in ways that seem light years ahead of even our present day discourse.
In this episode, Fiona Shaw speaks with authors, academics and artists inspired by Virginia Woolf, about how Woolf foregrounded interior lives.
Fiona hears from authors Michael Cunningham, Mark Haddon and Naomi Alderman; Woolf biographer Alexandra Harris; filmmaker Sally Potter; Professor of Modernist Literature, Bryony Randall; Professor of English, Mark Hussey; and Professor of Twentieth Century Literature, Anna Snaith.
Extracts read by Gwendoline Christie.
Produced by Ellie Richold for BBC Audio Wales
SAT 22:00 News (m002qrcd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002qh1k)
The Honey Trap
After concerns that honey from overseas is being watered down with cheap rice and corn syrups, Sheila Dillon investigates the scale of global honey fraud. It's a story of complex international supply chains with the world's food security at its heart.
In 2023, the European Commission found that 46 per cent of the honey it sampled was suspected to be fraudulent. Just last year at the World Beekeeping Awards the prize for Best Honey had to be cancelled after fears that adulterated honey might be entered. The fake version can be very difficult to detect and beekeepers warn that it is forcing down the price of honey, potentially driving them out of business.
So how serious an issue has international honey fraud become and how concerned should consumers in the UK be? Sheila visits Bermondsey Street bees in Essex in search of answers and speaks to the UK's two biggest honey producers - Rowse and Hilltop Honey. Food fraud expert Professor Chris Elliott from Queen's University Belfast analyses the situation and Robin Markwell reports from Copenhagen where the world's largest convention of beekeepers was recently held.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Robin Markwell
SAT 23:00 Dan Does Dating (m002qrcg)
Series 1
3. Chloe
Think of the worst date you've been on, or heard about. Now imagine having to go through that every week. That's what happens to Dan Dickerson in Dan Does Dating, a new non-audience sitcom by Michael Beck. And his dates feel the same way.
This week, Dan tries dating up the social ladder, and goes to an art gallery with a much posher woman. Can he convince her that he could live a posh life with her?
Dan … Christopher Macarthur-Boyd
Chloe… Eleanor Morton
Chris … Ray Bradshaw
Jack … Stephen Buchanan
Jamila … Nalini Chetty
Diane … Zara Gladman
Waiter / Boy … Kougar Baatarkhuu
Barman ... Jonny Donahoe
Quizmaster … Sanjeev Kohli
Random Woman… Lisa Livingstone
Babysitter / Girl … Amy Matthews
Paramedic … Sophie Wilkinson
Written by Michael Beck
Recorded and edited by Diane Jardine at Sonido Studios, Clydebank
Produced and directed by Ed Morrish
A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m002qgml)
Heat 4, 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, our three contestants pick from topics including ‘Teenage Stars’, ‘XTC's English Vision' and ‘All That Acid Jazz’.
Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
SUNDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2026
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002qrcj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002qgmj)
Ali Smith
Acclaimed author Ali Smith speaks to Take Four Books about her latest book, Glyph. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. Glyph tells a story hidden within Smith’s 2024 novel Gliff. Once again, the plot centres on two siblings and a horse, and delves into the power of storytelling.
Ali’s three chosen influences for this episode are: The Wild Ass’ Skin by Honoré de Balzac (1831); A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear (1846); and Strider: The Story of a Horse by Leo Tolstoy (circa 1886).
Producer: Hayley Jarvis
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qrcl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qrcn)
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 (m002qrcq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qrcs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002qrcv)
The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Bradford, West Yorkshire
Bells on Sunday comes from the Cathedral Church of St Peter in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Built on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church the current building is largely 15th century. In 1921 a new peal of ten bells was installed and dedicated as a War Memorial. These were augmented to a peal of twelve in 1975 with the donation of two bells from the nearby Parish Church of St. John, in Little Horton. The Tenor bell weighs twenty five and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of D. We hear them now ringing Grandsire Cinques.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002qjcb)
Disability Confident Scheme, Blind Sailing
The Disability Confident Scheme is a government programme that aims to help employers recruit and retain disabled people. Organisations can volunteer to sign up and move through three tiers that have varying levels of commitments. As part of a series of measures to try to help with the recruitment of disabled people, the government are planning to overhaul the scheme and make certain criteria more robust. Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms tells In Touch about their plans.
GBR Blind Sailing recently achieved great success at the World Sailing Inclusion Visually Impaired Championships in Oman. Lucy Hodges MBE is commodore of GBR Blind Sailing and nine-time World Champion and she, along with long-term sailor Vicki Sheen, tell In Touch about their success in Oman and about their aims to get more visually impaired people involved in the sport and to get blind sailing into the Paralympics in its own class.
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.
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002qrdq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m002qjbw)
Colour in Film
How did the arrival of colour and film technology transform cinema and its cultural politics? Laurie Taylor explores the intertwined histories of technology, aesthetics, and identity.
Swarnavel Eswaran, filmmaker and scholar at Michigan State University, introduces us to the remarkable story of Kodak Krishnan – Eastman Kodak’s “man from the East.” Krishnan played a pivotal role in bringing American film technology to India during the mid-20th century, a period when cinema was becoming a powerful medium for shaping ideas of modernity and national pride.
Kirsty Sinclair Dootson, Associate Professor in the History of Art department at University College London, is one of the organisers of the Bombay Colour Research Network. Her book The Rainbow’s Gravity asked how new colour media transformed the way Britain saw itself and its empire between 1856 and 1968. Her research also examines how colour technologies – from early tinting processes to the vibrant palettes of Bollywood musicals became part of debates over race, class, and cultural representation.
Kirsty Sinclair Dootson is one of the academics who has been a New Generation Thinker, on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to share research on radio.
Producer: Natalia Fernandez
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002qrds)
The Farmer’s Boy – The legend and legacy of Eric Freeman
Clifford Freeman farms at Redmarley beside the River Leadon in the ancient border landscape where Gloucestershire meets Worcestershire. His 16th century farmhouse was once an inn on the old Welsh Drovers' route and sits in sight of Pauntley Court, the ancestral home of Dick Whittington (the real Richard Whittington who was Lord Mayor of London four times). But as Vernon Harwood discovers that's not the whole story because Clifford has found himself as the custodian of his father’s remarkable legacy.
His dad was the rare breeds pioneer, conservationist and broadcaster Eric Freeman, famous for his role in saving Gloucester cattle from extinction in the early 1970s. Eric also championed the other county breeds of Gloucestershire; Cotswold sheep and Old Spots pigs. He grew endangered fruit varieties, collected vintage farm waggons and revived centuries-old rural traditions such as Wassailing and Harvest Home.
Now Clifford has questions to ponder and difficult decisions to make. What’s the future for his dad’s beloved breeds and the old country customs he rekindled? Is there a place for Eric’s impressive collection of farming bygones and heirlooms? And importantly, how does he untangle his own legacy from his father’s? The programme centres around the Harvest Home celebration on Clifford’s farm – the first to be held since Eric’s death and a day full of poignancy and meaning.
Produced and presented by Vernon Harwood.
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002qrdv)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002qrdx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002qrdz)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002qrf1)
Radio 4 Appeal Fund
Charlotte Smith makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the Radio 4 Appeal Fund. The fund gives listeners the opportunity to donate to all of the weekly Radio 4 appeals by sharing donations equally between all the broadcast appeal charities from that year.
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 ‘Radio 4 Appeal Fund’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Radio 4 Appeal Fund’.
- 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: 327489. If you’d like to find out more, visit https://www.bbc.com/charityappeals/donate/radio4-fund
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002qrf3)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002qrf5)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002qrf7)
Candlemas in Wrexham
Sunday Worship comes from St Giles' in Wrexham, and is led by Rev James Tout. The music in this Candlemas service is provided by the congregation and Fron Choir.
Readings:
Malachi3:1-5
Luke
2:22-40
Music:
Love Divine
Faithful Vigil Ended
Tell out my Soul
The Lord’s Prayer
Tydi a Rhoddaist
Sanctus from the German Mass by Shubert
SUN 08:48 Tweet of the Day (m002qrf9)
George McGavin on the Gannet
As a child, the entomologist George McGavin found a dead gannet on the beach, and set about extracting the skull for his collection. He was fascinated to discover the hundreds of pointed barbs in its mouth. Now years later he marvels at this clever bit of evolution which prevents fish falling out of gannets' beaks as they dive into the water then become airborne again.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
SUN 08:50 In Other News (m002qrfc)
Welcome to the programme which sidesteps the main news headlines and delves more deeply into what’s going right in the world.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002qrff)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002qrfh)
Professor Michele Dougherty, scientist
Professor Michele Dougherty is President of the Institute of Physics and Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London. She was appointed Astronomer Royal last year – the first woman to hold the post in its 350-year history.
She was brought up in Durban in South Africa and studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in applied maths at Natal University. After completing a Master’s and PhD she took up a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany where she investigated solar wind and galactic wind outflows.
In 1991 she joined Imperial College London where she helped devise a magnetic field model for the Ulysses mission. In 1997 she became principal investigator for the magnetometer instrument on board the Cassini probe which was sent to study Saturn and its system.
She is currently lead investigator for the J-MAG magnetometer instrument on the European Space Agency's JUICE mission (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) which launched in 2023. It will reach Jupiter in 2031 and spend at least three years observing the planet and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
Michele was appointed CBE in the 2018 New Years Honours List for services to UK Physical Science Research.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley
Desert Island Discs has cast many space experts away to the island over the years including NASA's Dr Nicola Fox, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the astronauts Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002qrfk)
Writer: Liz John
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe
25th - 30th January
Ben Archer.... Ben Norris
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter.... Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin
Justin Elliott.... Simon Williams
Mick Fadmoor.... Martin Barrass
Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
George Grundy ... Angus Stobie
Joy Horville.... Jackie Lye
Akram Malik.... Asif Khan
Azra Malik.... Yasmin Wilde
Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller.... Annabelle Dowler
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
SUN 12:15 Profile (m002qrc8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 12:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m002qj0s)
Series 32
6. Men, Statues, Theft and Martial Arts
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.
Miles Jupp, Celya AB, Michelle Wolf and Frankie Boyle are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as men, statues, theft and martial arts.
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 (m002qrfm)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002qrfp)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 Currently (m002qrfr)
RAAC and Ruin
Between the 1950s and 1990s the material known as RAAC, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, was used mostly in flat roofing, but also in floors and walls. It offered a cheaper alternative to standard concrete, but the discovery of its short lifespan has meant serious problems. It made the headlines when it was found in schools and hospitals, but it has been used in housing as well.
A political storm is brewing in Scotland after thousands of homeowners have been told their properties are no longer safe because of RAAC. Some are living on ghost estates under threat of demolition. Others have even been forcibly removed. Local authorities are offering a percentage of the market value before the faults were identified, but homeowners say this will leave them homeless and in debt, paying mortgages on rubble.
Karin Goodwin investigates the human cost of a flawed building material.
Presenter: Karin Goodwin
Producers: Liza Greig and Halina Rifai
Executive Producer: Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002qh26)
Postbag Edition: Seaton Delaval Hall
Kathy Clugston and the GQT team visit the Seaton Delaval Hall in Newcastle, to answer questions from the GQT postbag.
Today, the panel helps choose roses for a shaded memorial bed, investigates the sudden collapse of a once‑glorious wisteria, and unpicks the mystery of a white flag iris that decided to flower again in autumn, but this time in blue.
Kathy is joined by Matthew Wilson, Bethan Collerton and Dr Chris Thorogood.
Alongside these questions, Sarah Peilow, Head Gardener at Seaton Delaval Hall takes us on a tour of the Parterre and the South East Garden.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002qrft)
Walden
During the mid-19th century America was undergoing unprecedented change. New railroads and canals allowed people and goods to criss-cross the country, as the old agrarian economy was replaced by a fast-paced industrialised one. This rapid market expansion was driven by profit and underpinned by slavery.
As the lives of Americans began to speed up, Henry David Thoreau took time out to ask himself a question - is this the best way to live? In 1845, when he was 27 years old, he built a one-roomed cabin next to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, and began an experiment in what he called ‘living deliberately’.
During the two years he spent at Walden Pond, Thoreau lived simply. He studied, read widely, went for long walks, and often just sat and contemplated the natural world around him. The journal he kept during the two years he lived in his microhouse would become Walden, a genre-defying mix of memoir, essay, nature diary, philosophical treatise and self-help guide. The book was not an immediate success but steadily grew in popularity after Thoreau’s early death at the age of 44. Walden is now regarded as a foundational work of both American literature and Transcendentalist philosophy. It has been continuously in print since 1862.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for over 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories 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. He created the BBC Writers Academy and trained a generation of screenwriters - now with thousands of hours of television to their names. His acclaimed books Into the Woods and Trip to the Moon explore the structure and power of narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of storytelling, including many podcasts for R4.
Contributors:
Laura Dassow Walls, author of Henry David Thoreau: A Life. Professor Emerita of English at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
Kristen Case, poet and Thoreau scholar. Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Henry David Thoreau. Editor of essays on Thoreau and author of Thoreau’s Kalendar – Charts and Observation of Natural Phenomena.
Tracy Fullerton, game designer, educator and writer, best known for Walden, a game. Professor in the USC Interactive Media & Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at USC.
Reader: Eric Stroud
Production Hub Coordinator: Dawn Williams
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Sound: Iain Hunter
Producer: Kate McAll
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002qrfw)
Walden
"I went to the woods, because I wished to live deliberately..."
Henry David Thoreau's account of his year living in a cabin in the woods next to Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Matthew Needham (House of the Dragon, Stutterer, Summer and Smoke) stars as Henry in Paul Farley's evocative dramatisation of an attempt to live lightly on the earth, in tune with the rhythms of the natural world and to pay attention to the local and immediate.
Henry.....Matthew Needham
The Hostess.....Antonia Bernath
Sceptical Diners.....Nathan Osgood and Adam Silver
Railway Workers.....Jonathan Forbes and Jos Vantyler
Mrs Field.....Aisha Lawal
Sam Staples.....Clive Haywood
The Poet.....Django Bevan
Fenda Freeman.....Lorna Lowe
William Taylor.....Kel Matsena
Walden was dramatized by Paul Farley
Sound design was by Rhys Morris
A BBC Audio Wales production, directed by Emma Harding
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m002qrfy)
Sarah Bernstein
The Canadian writer Sarah Bernstein speaks to a Bookclub audience about her Booker-shortlisted 2023 novel, Study For Obedience. Published by Granta, the story follows an unnamed protagonist who is moved to a remote northern country to be a housekeeper for her brother, but as soon as she arrives a series of unfortunate events occur. The novel won the Giller prize in 2023.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m002qzbk)
Series 39
Heat 5, 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, our three contestants pick from topics including ‘Pop into 1976', 'Seventies isco at the movies' and 'The Wayne Shorter Report'.
Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74js)
The secretary who made millions from her typos
In the 1950s, secretary Bette Graham from Texas was struggling to cope with her new electric typewriter.
“My fingers would hang heavy on the sensitive keyboard and the first thing I'd know, I'd have a mistake with a deposit of carbon which I simply couldn't erase,” she said.
A budding artist, she wondered if there was a way she could paint over her typos.
At home, in her kitchen, the single mum cooked up the first correcting fluid. It was a hit with other secretaries and, by 1973, Bette had turned her creation into a multi-million dollar business.
Bette died in 1980 so Vicky Farncombe tells her story using archive from University of North Texas Special Collections.
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: Correction fluid. Credit: Getty Images)
SUN 17:10 The Verb (m002qrg1)
Rilke's life-changing poems and Paul Farley, Kate Fox, Griot Gabriel
Ian McMillan explores Rainer Maria Rilke's life advice, and is joined by Paul Farley, Griot Gabriel, Kate Fox & Ulrich Baer
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002qrg3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002qrg5)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qrg7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002qrg9)
Myra Anubi
This week, we follow the journey of those men "forged in steel" through archive, and the story of how Britain is built on the foundations of crafting. Meanwhile, the First Nation musician Dyagula is crafting new heritage for a critically endangered language on Soul Music. Plus, we find ourselves forest bathing, and building a house in the middle of the Massachusetts woods in 1845. And if you aren’t hugely interested in trees being your next door neighbours, maybe the story of a secret apartment in a Rhode Island mall appeals more.
Presenter: Myra Anubi
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production coordinators: Caroline Peddle and Caoilfhinn McFadden
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002qrgc)
Suspicions are aroused for Pip, while David is left disappointed.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002qrgf)
Bolton: The Happiest Town on Earth?
In the 1930s a group of researchers descended on the northern mill town of Bolton to observe the natives. They christened their chosen case-study 'Worktown'. It was a ground breaking study of working class culture - and one thing they wanted to know was what makes people happy.
The people of Bolton were asked a simple questions "What is happiness to you and yours?" The letters written in response reveal a snapshot of the innermost thoughts and feelings of ordinary people, living ordinary lives almost a century ago.
Katharine Longworth returns to Bolton to discover whether this town still holds the secret to happiness. Exploring the town centre, markets, pasty shops and pubs; she asks the same question, bringing the original letters to life as modern day Boltonians reflect on the insights of their predecessors.
We knock on the doors of those who live in the same spot as the original correspondents, linking them to the past through the words of the letters, and hearing their own reflections on happiness. Have things changed? Is it more difficult to be happier today? And is Bolton the happiest town on earth?
Original letter written by:
J.E. Nelson
G. Taylor
J. Warburton
Joseph Roberts
A. Thornley
F. Fielding
L. Bollington
E. Horrocks
Producer: Katharine Longworth
Sound Design: Michael Smith
Actors: Paul Brennan, Jasmine Hyde and Mike Rogers
With thanks to Professor Jerome Carson and Dr Sandie McHugh at The University of Greater Manchester.
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m000vy1l)
Green Spaces
Michael explores the science behind the soothing power of nature, revealing how nature not only makes us feel good in the moment, but how it also has a more lasting effect on our stress levels and our mental health. Michael speaks to Professor Ming Kuo at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has been looking into the surprising ways nature could be having an effect on your immune system and mind. They discuss everything from mood boosting microbes in the soil, to the aromatic chemicals released by plants that could be enhancing your immune system.
SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m002qj8y)
Aphorisms: Sayings to Live By
Michael Rosen talks to James Geary about his lifetime obsession, aphorisms. These short, witty philosophical sayings have been coined by everyone from Emily Dickinson and James Baldwin to Hallmark, and even Michael's mum.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002qh2b)
Sir Mark Tully, Dame Gillian Wagner, Dr Gladys West, Richard Larn OBE
Matthew Bannister on
Sir Mark Tully who reported on India for the BBC for decades, covering some of the most significant events in the country’s recent history.
Dame Gillian Wagner who campaigned to raise the standards of residential care in the UK.
Dr. Gladys West, the mathematician whose work paved the way for the development of GPS.
Richard Larn OBE, the diver who was one of the UK’s leading experts on shipwrecks.
Interviewee: Sarah Tully
Interviewee: Qurban Ali
Interviewee: Lucy McCarraher
Interviewee: Carolyn West Oglesby
Interviewee: Steve Roue
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Colin Paterson
Archive used:
Mark Tully interview with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Outlook, BBC World Service, 1975; Mark Tully interview, Desert Islands Discs, BBC Radio 4, 15/06/2003; Mark Tully news analysis, BBC World Report, 12/07/1971; Mark Tully report from Bhopal, BBC News, 04/12/1984; Mark Tully report from Ayodhya, BBC News, 06/12/1992; Mark Tully presenting, Something Understood, BBC Radio 4, 30/07/2000; Gillian Wagner, The Barnardo Family, BBC Radio 4, 23/04/1979; Gillian Wagner interview, Scene on Six, BBC News NI, 15/10/1981; Gillian Wagner, The Flower of the Flock, BBC Radio 4, 31/07/1981; Dr Gladys West interview, Today, BBC Radio 4, 31/12/2022; Gladys West interview, PBS News Hour, PBS, 20/01/2026; Hannah Fry: The Secret Genius of Everyday Life, BBC Two, 17/11/2022; Richard Larn interview, BBC News at One, 19/08/2010; Richard Larn , Richard Larn, Shipwrecks, Countryfile, BBC One, 25/02/2007; Richard Larn interview, The Mullion Pin Wreck, BBC, 07/08/1975; The Raising of the Mary Rose, BBC Radio 4, 10/10/1982; Richard Larn, Divers Midweek, 29/08/1974;
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002qrbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002qrf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002qrbd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002qrgk)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002qj85)
The Roman Arena
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the countless venues across the Roman Empire which for over five hundred years drew the biggest crowds both in the Republic and under the Emperors. The shows there delighted the masses who knew, no matter how low their place in society, they were much better off than the gladiators about to fight or the beasts to be slaughtered. Some of the Roman elites were disgusted, seeing this popular entertainment as morally corrupting and un-Roman. Moral degradation was a less immediate concern though than the overspill of violence. There was a constant threat of gladiators being used as a private army and while those of the elite wealthy enough to stage the shows hoped to win great prestige, they risked disappointing a crowd which could quickly become a mob and turn on them.
With
Kathleen Coleman
James Loeb Professor of the Classics at Harvard University
John Pearce
Reader in Archaeology at King’s College London
And
Matthew Nicholls
Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John’s College, Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
C. A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton University Press, 1993)
Roger Dunkle, Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome (Pearson, 2008)
Garrett G. Fagan, The Lure of the Arena: Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
A. Futrell, Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (University of Texas Press, 1997)
A. Futrell, The Roman Games: A Sourcebook (Blackwell Publishing, 2006)
Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, The Colosseum (Profile, 2005)
Luciana Jacobelli, Gladiators at Pompeii (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003)
Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben (eds.), Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome (University of California Press, 2000)
Donald Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (Routledge, 1998)
F. Meijer, The Gladiators: History’s Most Deadly Sport (Souvenir, 2004)
Jerry Toner, The Day Commodus killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014)
K. Welch, The Roman Amphitheatre from its Origins to the Colosseum (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
T. Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators (Routledge, 1992)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production
SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002qh28)
Lahinch by Rachel Gough
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Rachel Gough. Read by Jessica Regan.
The Author
Rachel Gough is a writer from County Cork. Her work includes short fiction published in The Waxed Lemon, Outpost, Bealtaine, The National Flash Fiction Anthology, and Best Small Fictions and poetry published in Quarryman. In 2021 her short story ‘December 25th 2022’ was shortlisted for Best Short Story at the Wild Atlantic Words Festival. In 2022 she received the Editor’s Choice Award from the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology. In the same year she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2025, she was awarded first place in the flash fiction category at the Write by the Sea Literary Festival.
Writer: Rachel Gough
Reader: Jessica Regan
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
MONDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2026
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002qrgp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 Crossing Continents (m002qjcd)
Nigeria: Killings, Land and Cattle
On Christmas Day 2025, the US carried out missile strikes on suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria. They came after President Trump said he would intervene to protect Christians amid controversial claims of a “Christian genocide” in the country. The Nigerian government rejects such claims, saying both Muslim and Christian communities have been affected by insecurity in the country. Alex Last visits Plateau state in central Nigeria one area where ethnic and sectarian violence that has been the focus of US concern, to hear from both sides and meet those trying to bring peace.
Produced and presented by Alex Last
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002qrcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qrgt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qrgy)
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 (m002qrh2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002qrh7)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qrhc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qrhh)
Journey has long been a metaphor for life
Good morning!
As long as I can remember, I’ve gone on pilgrimage.
One of my earliest memories is my parents piling my four brothers and I into our bright red Fiat Strada for the long journey to the Marian Shrine of Knock in the west of Ireland.
This was long before the European Union generously provided for the beautiful network of motorways we now enjoy.
No, back in the 1980s we went through every town and village, and felt every bump on that long road – my poor parents.
Pilgrimage as a practice is found in nearly every major world religion, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Sikhism. as well as indigenous and ancient faiths.
Pilgrimages serve as journeys to sacred sites to reinforce faith, seek blessings, or fulfil religious duties.
Journey has long been a metaphor for life.
Sacred texts are full of journeys, while in literature from ancient epics to modern fiction, the journey represents a quest for self-discovery, growth, and transformation.
T.S. Eliot wrote:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Perhaps he was making the point that true understanding comes not from endless searching, but from returning to your origins with newfound wisdom. Realising your starting point was more profound than you knew, and seeing it with fresh, enlightened eyes.
It’s a paradox: exploration is essential to gain the perspective needed to truly comprehend the familiar, making the familiar new again.
I pray for wisdom to see the journey often brings us back to where we began, but transformed by experience, we recognise it with deeper insight. Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002qrhm)
02/02/26 Scottish Environment Bill, Ramblers report, new entrants.
Scotland has introduced legislation to set legal targets on nature restoration and halt the loss of biodiversity. The Scottish Government says this will ensure that the country is 'on a bold ambitious journey to be nature positive by 2030'. The Natural Environment bill, which was passed by the Scottish parliament last week, also gives ministers new powers over land use and deer management.
The right to roam in Scotland, which gives people access rights, is being 'hollowed out' by a lack of money according to a new report from the walkers’ group Ramblers Scotland. It says that some of the essential infrastructure needed to ensure the rights of both walkers and land managers has disappeared, with too few local staff to handle issues when people don't stick to the rules, and not enough money spent on maintaining paths.
All week we're talking about new entrants: the people who come into farming with no family farm to work on, or inherit. The vast majority of farmers who own land pass it on to other members of the family, so it can be hard for people from outside the industry to get hold of land. Land is expensive too, which forms another barrier. Tenant farms where all or some of the land is rented make up about a third of farmland in England, but getting a tenancy is hard work and again requires some capital. One rural charity, The Addington Fund, has set up a new new entrant scheme to help people get a foot on the farming ladder.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
MON 05:57 Weather (m002qrhq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002qrw6)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002qrw8)
Censorship
A lawyer, artist and curator discuss different examples of censorship and self censorship in Radio 4's weekly discussion of ideas to kick off the week. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are:
Ai Weiwei: a major name in contemporary art and for decades a leading voice for freedom of expression in his native China – and the wider world. In 2011 he was detained for eighty-one days in a secret location, unable to communicate with the outside world. His new book, On Censorship moves from authoritarian regimes to the pervasive influence of corporate power, social media and dominant interest groups in democracies.
Baroness Helena Kennedy has written the introduction to collected writings of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who was murdered outside her home in Moscow twenty years ago. With continued attacks in Russia on press freedom, the way she spoke truth to power remains inspirational for Baroness Kennedy.
The figure of the Samurai is often associated with ideas about discipline, sacrifice and war but a new exhibition at the British Museum (on until May 4th) looks at the way this warrior class became consumers and patrons of culture. Rosina Buckland has co-curated the show.
Producer: Ruth Watts
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002qrwb)
Thought-provoking talks in which speakers explore original ideas about culture and society
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002qrwd)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
MON 11:00 Understand (m002qrwg)
An American Journey
3. Establishing Justice
James Naughtie continues his look at the ideas tying America's founding to the modern United States, asking how 'justice' has been understood by different generations of Americans.
In this third episode, James travels to Alabama in the American South, to understand how the Civil Rights movement sought to connect American reality with the promises in its founding documents. He hears from people in Texas on both sides of the debate about abortion, revealing how a movement built to oppose abortion rights brought millions of Christians into politics and dramatically shifted the politics of America's highest court. And in Midwestern Wisconsin, he hears how political division has come to the administration of justice itself.
Producer: Giles Edwards
MON 11:45 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qrwj)
Episode 1: Suffolk
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth, Susan Owens offers a fresh look at how his life and work were shaped by his abiding love for his native Suffolk and the annual cycle of the natural world.
Today Constable is often considered to be a traditional artist, but he was a radical in his own time. Susan Owens describes how he rejected lazy, second-hand versions of nature; instead, he subjected the land, its people and its industry to intense scrutiny, and developed a new kind of painting to reflect the landscape and weather he saw with his farmer’s eye. He knew intimately the lanes, fields and millponds around his childhood home in East Bergholt in Suffolk, and he painted and understood the countryside as a place of labour as well as natural beauty.
Enriched with quotations from Constable’s funny, tender and acerbic letters, we follow him from his youth in the late 1700s, through the great love story of his marriage, to the final months of his life in 1837.
In this first episode we explore Constable’s early life in Suffolk as the son of a prosperous miller and famer in the Stour Valley, and how his intimate connection with the landscape stayed with him as he began to navigate life in London as a young artist.
Dr Susan Owens is an expert on British landscape art, and while Curator of Paintings at the V&A she was involved in the major exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master. Her latest book, The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History, was Apollo magazine’s Book of the Year in 2024.
Reader: Susannah Harker
Abridger and producer: Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Studio Production: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
MON 12:00 News Summary (m002qrwl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002qrwn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m002qrwq)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m002qrws)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
MON 13:45 In Detail... (p0m50kcd)
Sanctuary: An Act of Defiance
Episode 1
A Sri Lankan man begs for sanctuary in a church in 1986.
Viraj Mendis says he faces death if sent back to his home country. Father John Methuen protects him from arrest, risking his reputation and the safety of Ascension church and allows a devoted group to protect him in the church.
Presenter Father Azariah France-Williams is the current rector of Ascension Church. He goes on a journey of discovery, finding out how the Sanctuary gamble leads to a two year culture war that defies Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's authority before crashing down.
Presenter: Father Azariah France-Williams.
Producer: Jen Dale.
Sound design: Kasel Kundola.
Online producer: Rachael Smith.
Executive producer: Ciaran Tracey.
Additional sound recording by Seb Rabas, Graham Kirk and Jan Seebeck.
Original material recorded and licensed by Big City Nights.
Executive editor: Andrew Bowman.
Commissioning editor: Alistair Miskin.
Artwork photograph of Viraj Mendis: Paul Mattsson.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002qrgc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Relativity (m001bs51)
Series 4
Episode 2
Drawing on his own family, the fourth series of Richard Herring’s popular comedy drama has warm, lively characters and sharply observed family dynamics of inter generational misunderstanding, sibling sparring and the ties that bind.
Amid the comedy, Richard broaches some more serious highs and lows of family life. In this series, set during the first year of lockdown. he draws on his own experience of testicular cancer at that time, as well as the comedic escapades of the four generations of the Snell family. Love, laughter and malapropisms abound.
Richard Herring is a comedian, writer, blogger and podcaster and the world's premier semi-professional self-playing snooker player.
Episode 2
Ian’s visit to the doctor leads to growing uncertainty about his health. Ken tries ineptly to bring Jane and Ian back together in an ill-advised surprise meeting. The grandchildren are delighted and horrified in equal measure when they find out that Margaret and Ken have been watching Naked Attraction.
Cast:
Margaret ..... Alison Steadman
Ken ..... Phil Davis
Jane ..... .Fenella Woolgar
Ian ..... Richard Herring
Chloe ..... Emily Berrington
Pete ..... Gordon Kennedy
Holly ..... Tia Bannon
Mark ..... Fred Haig
Nick ..... Harrison Knights
Dr Kulkarni ..... Ahir Shah
Donny ..... Rafael Solomon
Writer Richard Herring
Director Polly Thomas
Sound Design Eloise Whitmore
Producer Daisy Knight
Executive Producers Jon Thoday and Richard Allen Turner
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:45 Opening Lines (m002qrft)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Sunday]
MON 15:00 Great Lives (m002qrww)
Daisy Dunn on Marcus Agrippa, ancient Rome's king of cement
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman general best known for his military victories, but he also helped rebuild Rome, providing aqueducts, statues and the original Pantheon. Nominating him is Dr Daisy Dunn, author of The Missing Thread, who dubs him ancient Rome's king of cement. Joining her is Dr Shushma Malik from Cambridge University who throws light on the man who won the battle of Actium and was for many years second in command to the emperor Augustus.
The programme is presented by historian Helen Carr and was produced in Bristol by Miles Warde.
MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002qrb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Saturday]
MON 16:00 Currently (m002qrfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 Rewinder (m002qrb8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002qrwy)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qrx0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002qrx2)
Series 96
1. The best curry in Bradford
This week Just A Minute returns to the glorious city of Bradford, 24 years after we last recorded there way back in 2002. Comedian Chris Cantrill was born and bred in Bradford and is making his debut on the show. How will he get on when he plays with regulars Paul Merton, Lucy Porter and Zoe Lyons on subjects like singing in the shower, heartbreak hotel and Alan Bennett?
Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Paul Merton, Lucy Porter, Zoe Lyons, Chris Cantrill
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Additional material by Ruth Husko
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m002qrkl)
Amber faces a complication, and Josh has his nose put out of joint.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002qrx5)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 20:00 Rethink (m002q39b)
Rethink... the promise of AI
In 2023, ChatGPT took Artificial Intelligence into the mainstream. Now there's a bewildering choice of human-like chatbots to choose from. Generative AIs can produce pictures and video from a text prompt, and many websites and apps are now labelled "Powered by AI".
This new technology can do lots of things and tech companies have raised vast amounts of money from investors based on its potential.
But what is AI actually for?
Certain specialised AIs have a clear purpose. AlphaFold2 can predict how proteins fold-up and won its creators the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and Google Translate is an AI with a purpose that’s clear from its name.
But so far there is no must-have or "killer" application for the Large Language Models and Generative AIs.
The future of AI is equally hazy. Will AI somehow lead to all-purpose "Artificial General Intelligence", autonomous robots or even machine consciousness? Or is this all just the stuff of fantasy and nightmares?
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Lisa Baxter
Contributors:
Mike Wooldridge, the Ashall Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford.
Rosalind Picard, Grover M. Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.
Ethan Mollick, Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and AI researcher.
Pip Finkemeyer, author of "One Story" and software designer and researcher.
Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology at the City University of New York.
Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txx)
Should we rethink navigating by GPS?
This week 14 European countries warned that “maritime safety and security” was being put in jeopardy by Russian interference. The Royal Institute of Navigation says GPS is so vulnerable to so called ‘spoofing’ and ‘jamming’ that we need to rethink the navigation systems on which shipping relies. Tom Whipple speaks to Ramsey Faragher, CEO of the Institute.
Something else with the potential to affect navigation systems are solar storms. Tom visits Professor Tim Horbury and Helen O’Brien at Imperial College London whose instrument strapped to the Solar Orbiter probe, and speeding through space, is giving us more warning about solar activity which could affect us here on earth.
And science journalist Caroline Steel brings you the latest scientific research.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002qrw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002qrwb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002qrx7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The White Lady of Morecambe by Jenn Ashworth (m002qrx9)
1. The Drowned Shore
Julie Hesmondhalgh kicks off an original five-part ghost story for Radio 4, from the award-winning writer Jenn Ashworth.
Set in the near future, on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay, old stories face new realities. Britain’s coastline is now at risk, and while the sea takes bites out of the land, and the once prosperous town slowly shuts down, some hang on here in the Bay, clinging to hope, or perhaps to superstitions from the past. Others move inland, to the resettlement areas, fearful of the brutal new tides. Among those stubborn few remaining are cafe-owner Helen, her daughter Ruby and old friend Margery.
Today: as the next big King Tide approaches, Helen fears she's losing control of her teenage daughter...
Reader: Julie Hesmondhalgh is an acclaimed actor, known best for her award-winning roles in Coronation Street, Broadchurch and Happy Valley. She is a founding member of political theatre collective, Take Back
Writer: Jenn Ashworth is an award-winning writer of short fiction, memoir and novels. Her novel A Kind of Intimacy won the Betty Trask Award, and her work has been shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, The Portico Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. She teaches writing at Lancaster University.
Producer: Justine Willett
MON 23:00 Limelight (m001g389)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall
Episode 3
Based on the novel by James Swallow
Dramatised by Paul Cornell
Episode 3
A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Veteran Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher, and his daughter Sarah, are tasked with a simple extraction mission. But they picked the wrong night for an easy capture. Will they secure the asset in one piece? Meanwhile, Charlie Cole meets with an old colleague.
Recorded in 3D binaural audio; please listen on headphones for a more immersive experience.
Sam Fisher ..... Andonis Anthony
Sarah Fisher ..... Daisy Head
Anna Grímsdóttir ..... Rosalie Craig
Charlie Cole ..... Sacha Dhawan
Andriy Kobin ..... Riad Richie
Nabil ..... Ali Gadema
Delim ..... Lloyd Thomas
Sound design by Steve Brooke
Directed by Jessica Mitic
Series Co-Produced by Jessica Mitic, Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002qrxc)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2026
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002qrxf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qrwj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qrxk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qrxp)
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 (m002qrxt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002qrxy)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qry2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qry7)
The voice is blessed - Feastday of St Blaise
Good morning!
In the Chistian tradition, today is known as the Feastday of St Blaise, bishop and martyr.
Balise was a Fourth Century bishop and physician in what is now modern-day Turkey.
His martyrdom may have earned him his place on the calendar, but it is his patronage that makes Balise a very popular saint indeed.
According to the tradition, a distraught mother, whose only child was choking on a fish bone, threw herself at his feet and implored his intercession. Touched by her distress, he offered up his prayers, and the child was cured.
Ever since, Balise is invoked for protection against injuries and illnesses of the throat.
On his feastday, opera singers, news readers, radio presenters and other people who use their voices for work on a daily basis.
The priest imparts the blessing with two crossed candles touching the throat, saying simply: “Through the intercession of St Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness”.
A friend of mine who is a singer, and a noted sceptic of religion, never misses the blessing on the Feastday of St Balise. “Can’t do any harm,” is his claimed logic!
I think one of the reasons why rituals often endure is the fact that we are material people. Things matter, objects matter.
That’s why an object associated with a long-dead loved one will often bring comfort in moments of grief or loneliness.
Things help us connect, and help us to feel something tangible.
Thinking of St Blaise on his feastday today, I pray in thanksgiving for all those who raise their gentle voices as voices of peace and justice for a better world. May they rise higher than voices of discord. Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002qryc)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 06:00 Today (m002qrk0)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Intrigue (m002q874)
Ransom Man
3. For the LOLz
ransom_man’s final post contained clues to his identity. In those clues, former cybercrime detective Antti Kurittu recognises similarities to of the biggest hacker he ever investigated, a Finnish teenager called Julius Kivimäki.
So who is Julius Kivimäki, and could he be the person who held a nation’s darkest secrets to ransom?
Jenny’s search for answers leads her away from Finland, to meet a man in Illinois named Blair. Blair grew up in the hacking scene, and his time in the same circles as Kivimäki would shape his life forever.
Blair found himself at the centre of a vicious online feud that spilled into the real world. It began with an unexpected takeaway delivery and ultimately put his and his family’s life in danger.
Jenny explores how Julius Kivimäki became a globally notorious hacker - his name has been linked to grounding of a plane with a hoax bomb threat, the targeting of elite universities and multinational corporations, and perpetrating tens of thousands of hacks. But was Vastaamo among them?
Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman.
Producer: Sam Peach.
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt.
Sound Design: Sam Peach
Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective.
A BBC Studios Production
Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m002qrk2)
Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002qrk4)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m002qh2q)
New Iranian Cinema
For more than six decades, in the face of censorship and even imprisonment, Iranian filmmakers have produced some of the world’s best-loved cinema. And now, with the legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s latest film It Was Just An Accident up for Oscar and BAFTA Awards, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode review this extraordinarily rich and unique cinema history.
Mark speaks to the British-Iranian director Babak Anvari about his supernatural-thriller film Under the Shadow, inspired by his experiences growing up during the Iran-Iraq War, and how and why Iranian cinema has had such a huge impact on film culture.
Ellen talks to Sepideh Farsi, who was forced to leave Iran for Paris as a teenager, about her 2009 documentary, Tehran Without Permission, which she made entirely independently on a Nokia cameraphone.
And Ellen also meets Hassan Nazer, an Aberdeen-based Iranian director who came to the UK as a refugee and whose 2022 film Winners is a love-letter to his country’s film-making tradition.
Producer: Artemis Irvine
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:45 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qrk6)
Episode 2: Spring
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth, Susan Owens offers a fresh look at how his life and work were shaped by his abiding love for his native Suffolk and the annual cycle of the natural world.
Today Constable is often considered to be a traditional artist, but he was a radical in his own time. Susan Owens describes how he rejected lazy, second-hand versions of nature; instead, he subjected the land, its people and its industry to intense scrutiny, and developed a new kind of painting to reflect the landscape and weather he saw with his farmer’s eye. He knew intimately the lanes, fields and millponds around his childhood home in East Bergholt in Suffolk, and he painted and understood the countryside as a place of labour as well as natural beauty.
Enriched with quotations from Constable’s funny, tender and acerbic letters, we follow him from his youth in the late 1700s, through the great love story of his marriage, to the final months of his life in 1837.
In this second episode we explore Constable’s favourite season of spring, as he balances his longing to be in his beloved Suffolk with the need to be in London preparing for the annual Royal Academy exhibition.
Dr Susan Owens is an expert on British landscape art, and while Curator of Paintings at the V&A she was involved in the major exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master. Her latest book, The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History, was Apollo magazine’s Book of the Year in 2024.
Reader: Susannah Harker
Abridger and producer: Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Studio Production: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002qrk9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002qrkc)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m002qrkf)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002qrkh)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
TUE 13:45 In Detail... (p0m50vlx)
Sanctuary: An Act of Defiance
Episode 2
A Sri Lankan man begs for sanctuary in a church in 1986.
Viraj Mendis says he faces death if sent back to his home country. Father John Methuen protects him from arrest, risking his reputation and the safety of Ascension church and allows a devoted group to protect him in the church.
Presenter Father Azariah France-Williams is the current rector of Ascension Church. He goes on a journey of discovery, finding out how the Sanctuary gamble leads to a two year culture war that defies Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's authority before crashing down.
Presenter: Father Azariah France-Williams.
Producer: Jen Dale.
Sound design: Kasel Kundola.
Online producer: Rachael Smith.
Executive producer: Ciaran Tracey.
Additional sound recording by Seb Rabas, Graham Kirk and Jan Seebeck.
Original material recorded and licensed by Big City Nights.
Executive editor: Andrew Bowman.
Commissioning editor: Alistair Miskin.
Artwork photograph of Viraj Mendis: Paul Mattsson.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002qrkl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m002qrkn)
Series 4
Admission
by Frances Poet with monologues by Eileen Horne.
Part One – Admission
Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of serious crime.
In this new 5 part series, she takes us into the world of secure units, explores the relationship between mothers and daughters and the impact of fatal violence on the lives it shatters.
DR ALEX BRIDGES ….. Lolita Chakrabarti
KATHLEEN ….. Maureen Beattie
LINDSAY ….. Helen Mackay
ABI ….. Anna Russell-Martin
DANIEL ….. Nicholas Karimi
SANDRA ….. Lucianne McEvoy
LEWIS/SOLICITOR/AMBULANCE OPERATOR ….. Lee Hughes
DC INGLES/SECURITY GUARD/NURSE ….. Kenny Blyth
Production Coordinators: Rosalind Gibson and Ellie Marsh
Sound recording : Andy Hay and Fraser Jackson
Sound Design: Fraser Jackson
Series Consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead
Series format created by Lucia Haynes, Audrey Gillan, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.
A BBC Audio Scotland Production produced and directed by Kirsty Williams
TUE 15:00 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m002pqrk)
Series 4
58. Mary Pearcey - Murderous Lover
Join Lucy Worsley and her all-female team as she delves into the Hampstead Tragedy, one of the most notorious murder cases of the Victorian era.
When the horrifically mutilated body of a young mother called Phoebe Hogg is found dumped by the side of a street in north London in October 1890, the press erupts into a frenzy of speculation that Jack the Ripper has struck again.
But it soon becomes clear to the police that the suspected killer is not a man, but a young woman called Mary Pearcey, a friend of Phoebe’s. This is when forensic science is in its infancy, but it is already featuring in the first Sherlock Holmes stories, and the public is gripped by this case.
Lucy is joined by one of the UK’s leading forensic scientists, Dr Angela Gallop CBE, to find out what light modern forensic techniques can shine on this case. They discuss how forensic science and true crime have captured the public imagination, and the pressure on forensic scientists working on high profile cases today from the press and the public.
Lucy is also joined by historian Professor Rosalind Crone as they visit the street in north London where Phoebe Hogg’s body was discovered. They discuss the media frenzy around the case, including the ‘Hampstead Tragedy’ exhibit at Madam Tussauds which broke all visitor records.
Lucy wants to know what this story tells us about the public’s passion for forensic science and true crime in 1890s Britain - and our passion for them today. And has the notoriety of this particular case distorted our view of women who kill?
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 Thinking Allowed (m002qrks)
The go-along research method
How does the environment we move through shape the way we see and experience the world?
Laurie Taylor talks to Alex Prior (London South Bank University) about his research inside Westminster, where he walked alongside MPs and staff to uncover how the corridors of power feel different depending on who you are and what your job is.
James Fletcher from the University of Bath worked on a project exploring what it’s like to navigate the bus and tram routes of central Manchester while living with dementia. He looked at how familiar streets and transport systems change when memory and mobility are shifting and the implications of this.
What is the value of research conducted in this way and what are the downsides?
Producer: Natalia Fernandez
TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002qrkv)
A People's History of Punk
I Fought the Law
Fifty years ago the first punk single, New Rose by The Damned, was released. For Chris Packham this was the start of a cultural revolution that continues to define his life and ethos.
Five decades after the anarchy and attitude of punk exploded onto the UK's music scene, Chris meets the people who, like him, were touched by its energy and ideas. What happened to the ultimate teenage upstarts now they've grown old, got a mortgage and maybe even a bus pass? Chris talks to the punks to find out why the music had such an impact.
In episode 3, I Fought The Law, Chris meets the punks who stood up to the establishment to find out how their ideas changed our world and if their ideals remain the same. He meets fellow punks like Billy Bragg, Tom Robinson, Pauline Murray and Dale Vince who are still working for change. In rural Essex, Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud from Crass remain committed to creative protest and system change. Many of the ideas they had in the late 70s and early 80s to create a cultural revolution can be seen in radical art and the protest movement today. Punk ideas and sounds are still the foundation for new bands who are standing up for what they believe all around the world. Finally, we meet the Riotous Collective from Leicester, a group of female punks who are defying the last taboo - age itself.
Produced by Helen Lennard
Story Edit by Melvin Rickarby
Sound Design by John Cranmer
A True Thought Production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002qrkx)
How can you improve your focus?
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into focus and how it can be improved. How do focus and attention work? Are there different types of attention? What impacts your ability to focus? Is social media ruining your focus? How can you improve? They explore the neurology of focus and attention, why you might find it difficult to focus, and how you can get better at it.
Joining them to discuss this is Duncan Astle, Professor of Neuroinformatics at the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University, and leader of the 4D Research Group, which looks at childhood development and developmental disorders.
If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Dr Duncan Astle
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Researcher: Mili Ostojic
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 (m002qrkz)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qrl1)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 18:30 You Heard It Here First (m002qrl3)
Series 3
4. 'Your Smugness Emanates'
Chris McCausland asks Fin Taylor and Fatiha El-Ghorri to take on Alasdair Beckett-King and Harriet Kemsley. The teams must figure out which audience members are lying (whilst blindfolded), guess what on earth some adorable children are trying to describe, and work out what famous films are being depicted from abstract sound cues.
Producer: Sasha Bobak
Assistant Producer: Eve Delaney
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002qrl5)
Will there be good news for Stella? And there's a changing of the guard at the dairy.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002qrl7)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 20:00 Today (m002qrl9)
Award-winning current affairs documentary series
TUE 20:45 In Touch (m002qrlc)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 Crossing Continents (m002qrlf)
India's sportswomen playing to be seen
How sport is giving some young women in India a way out of child marriage and allowing them to be seen.
Officially, the practice of child marriage is illegal in the country. But UNICEF estimates that over 200 million girls and women in India have been married before they turned 18. Take Munna as an example. Her mother was fifteen when she married and Munna herself was only 14 when she was told she would be a child bride. However, she fought back, using football as her weapon. She broke social norms and took up the sport, including wearing shorts on the pitch, and fended off various attempts to marry her off early. Now her rebellion has spread to her youngest sister, who has felt emboldened by her elder sister and has made it to the state football team.
Sport has also helped members of a marginalised community - the Siddis, who were originally brought to India from Africa mainly as slaves - to battle against discrimination. For Shahin her route was via judo.
Divya Arya reports on how sport is helping some young women to break free from the bonds of early marriage and to forge an identity for themselves.
Producer: John Murphy
Programme mix: James Beard
Programme co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m002qj8k)
What Happens When Brands Change Hands?
From headline deals like Vodafone-Three or home builder, Barratt buying rival, Redrow, corporate mergers and takeovers are on the rise. Evan Davis and guests take a fresh look at what happens when companies combine. They discuss why deal-making is growing, why execs turn to M&A, what can go wrong and whether mergers deliver growth or simply disguise deeper problems.
Guests:
Vittorio Colao, CEO at Vodafone Group 2008-2018, and now Vice Chairman, EMEA, General Atlantic
Pip Hulbert, CCO for International Markets at VML
Farshid Azadegan, Director of BEC Distribution
Production team:
Presenter: Evan Davis
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound engineers: Russell Newlove and Andy Garratt
Editor: Matt Willis
The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002qrlh)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The White Lady of Morecambe by Jenn Ashworth (m002qrlk)
2. The Undertow
Julie Hesmondhalgh continues Jenn Ashworth's five-part ghost story, written for Radio 4.
Set in the near future, on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay, old stories face new realities. Britain’s coastline is now at risk, and while the sea takes bites out of the land, and the once prosperous town slowly shuts down, some hang on here in the Bay, clinging to hope, or perhaps to superstitions from the past. Others move inland, to the resettlement areas, fearful of the brutal new tides. Among those stubborn few remaining are cafe-owner Helen, her daughter Ruby and old friend Margery.
Today: it's the day before the King Tide, when the water comes in hard and fast. While the older generation still cling to stories about the mysterious White Lady, the young, including Helen's daughter Ruby, are only interested in the harsh new realities...
Reader: Julie Hesmondhalgh is an acclaimed actor, known best for her award-winning roles in Coronation Street, Broadchurch and Happy Valley. She is a founding member of political theatre collective, Take Back
Writer: Jenn Ashworth is an award-winning writer of short fiction, memoir and novels. Her novel A Kind of Intimacy won the Betty Trask Award, and her work has been shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, The Portico Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. She teaches writing at Lancaster University.
Producer: Justine Willett
TUE 23:00 Illuminated (m002qrgf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002qrln)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2026
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002qrlq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qrk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qrls)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qrlv)
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 (m002qrlx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002qrlz)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qrm1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qrm3)
According to the Celtic calendar, it is already spring
Good morning!
According to the Celtic calendar, it is already Spring!
Depending on where you’re listening, it might not yet seem like Spring, and there are surely cold days ahead.
But in the Celtic calendar, Imbolc – the start of Spring – landed about half-way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
The term Imbolc is from the Irish language meaning ‘in the belly’, conjuring images of the land springing to new life as this is a time when fertility returns to the earth and the barren winter landscape begins to change.
I always love this time of year, when the days are getting longer and there is that famed ‘stretch in the evening’ that people talk about.
Spring is a season of awakening — to new energy, creativity and possibilities.
It’s a time to elevate our thinking, clarify our vision and explore new plans.
It’s also a time to get in touch with our connectedness to nature. We are stewards of our created world, not masters of it.
Care for our planet and attuning ourselves to the agricultural cycle of the world allows us to see and recognise that we share this fragile creation with so many other creatures – each with their own part to play.
When I was in school, I used to love it when we sang All God’s Creatures:
All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws, or anything they've got…
I was more of a clapper than a singer, truth be told.
This morning, I pray for the grace to see that we are all part of the same creation and look after that our precious world together. Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002qrm5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 06:00 Today (m002qtdb)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Sideways (m002qtdd)
79. The Scientist and the Miracle
Joshua Brown, a respected neuroscience professor at Indiana University, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2003. It was devastating news. Joshua was only 30, and a new father. And so, with nothing to lose, he and his wife pursued an unconventional path - especially for a scientist. Together with their newborn daughter, they travelled across America, praying for a miracle.
Matthew Syed delves into instances where inexplicable recoveries have been interpreted as evidence of divine intervention. He examines the unexpected ways in which the Vatican works with scientists to deem certain events miraculous. The whole idea touches on something deeply personal to Matthew as someone who grew up in a family that believed in miracle healings. He now struggles with the idea and is a firm non-believer, but he reunites with a much-loved pastor from his childhood for a frank conversation and meeting of their two viewpoints. Through Joshua’s remarkable journey, Matthew probes at whether miracles can ever be compatible with scientific thinking.
With Joshua Brown, Professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University and Director of the Global Medical Research Institute; oncologist Dr Ranjana Srivastava; Jacqueline Duffin, haematologist, historian, and Professor Emerita at Queen’s University, Canada; and Matthew’s childhood pastor, Nigel Thompson.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Vishva Samani
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Mark Pittam
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
WED 09:30 The History Bureau (m002qjrq)
Putin and the Apartment Bombs
3. The TV Show
What if the truth behind the bombs could be revealed - on a television show?
Following the events at Ryazan, journalists at Russia’s major television channel NTV prepare for a primetime broadcast: a confrontation between the residents of the building where the sacks of powder were found and the FSB officials who insist it was nothing more than a training exercise. With the Russian presidential election just days away, the TV show becomes a gamble that could cost NTV far more than its ratings. In this episode, Helena speaks to Yevgeny Kiselyov, one of Russia’s most influential political journalists and the man who brought the show to the air.
In Season 1 of The History Bureau, presenter Helena Merriman returns to one of the most contested - and consequential - stories in modern Russia. In September 1999, just weeks after Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings across Russia. The bombs exploded in the middle of the night, killing hundreds of people while they slept. In this season, Merriman returns to the story with the reporters who were there on the ground. What did they get right first time around? And, in the chaos and confusion of unfolding events, what did they miss?
Presenter: Helena Merriman
Series Producer: Sarah Shebbeare
Executive Editor: Annie Brown
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002qtdg)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
WED 11:00 Today (m002qrl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:45 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qtdj)
Episode 3: Summer
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth, Susan Owens offers a fresh look at how his life and work were shaped by his abiding love for his native Suffolk and the annual cycle of the natural world.
Today Constable is often considered to be a traditional artist, but he was a radical in his own time. Susan Owens describes how he rejected lazy, second-hand versions of nature; instead, he subjected the land, its people and its industry to intense scrutiny, and developed a new kind of painting to reflect the landscape and weather he saw with his farmer’s eye. He knew intimately the lanes, fields and millponds around his childhood home in East Bergholt in Suffolk, and he painted and understood the countryside as a place of labour as well as natural beauty.
Enriched with quotations from Constable’s funny, tender and acerbic letters, we follow him from his youth in the late 1700s, through the great love story of his marriage, to the final months of his life in 1837.
In this third episode we explore Constable’s summer painting trips back to East Bergholt and the intense love for his wife Maria which was intimately bound up with the landscapes of Suffolk.
Dr Susan Owens is an expert on British landscape art, and while Curator of Paintings at the V&A she was involved in the major exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master. Her latest book, The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History, was Apollo magazine’s Book of the Year in 2024.
Reader: Susannah Harker
Abridger and producer: Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Studio Production: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
WED 12:00 News Summary (m002qtdl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002qtdn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m002qtdq)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m002qtds)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
WED 13:45 In Detail... (p0m50ykj)
Sanctuary: An Act of Defiance
Episode 3
A Sri Lankan man begs for sanctuary in a church in 1986.
Viraj Mendis says he faces death if sent back to his home country. Father John Methuen protects him from arrest, risking his reputation and the safety of Ascension church and allows a devoted group to protect him in the church.
Presenter Father Azariah France-Williams is the current rector of Ascension Church. He goes on a journey of discovery, finding out how the Sanctuary gamble leads to a two year culture war that defies Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's authority before crashing down.
Presenter: Father Azariah France-Williams.
Producer: Jen Dale.
Sound design: Kasel Kundola.
Online producer: Rachael Smith.
Executive producer: Ciaran Tracey.
Additional sound recording by Seb Rabas, Graham Kirk and Jan Seebeck.
Original material recorded and licensed by Big City Nights.
Executive editor: Andrew Bowman.
Commissioning editor: Alistair Miskin.
Artwork photograph of Viraj Mendis: Paul Mattsson.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002qrl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Deacon (m001k7vp)
Deacon: A Reckoning
By Edson Burton. The enigmatic drifter is back to help a troubled soul. James Persad has lost his wife Mavis, and he too seems lost. Can Deacon help? New supernatural drama starring Don Warrington and Ram John Holder.
CAST
Deacon - Don Warrington
James Persad - Ram John Holder
Mavis - Sutara Gayle
Michael - Lee Mengo
Ryan - Tristan Slowley
Youth - Hasan Dixon
Sound Design - Nigel Lewis
Producer - John Norton
A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002qtdw)
The latest news from the world of personal finance
WED 15:30 The Artificial Human (m002qtdy)
AI's Bubble Trouble?
2. What are the consequences of an AI economic crash?
In part two of their exploration of the economics of Ai Aleks and Kevin ask, what are the consequences of the anticipated financial bubble bursting, and would a crash stop there?
There's massive uncertainty over whether the Ai industry can make enough money to warrant the astronomical sums being invested, making 2026 a make-or-break year for the sector in the eyes of many experts. We're joined by Dame Diane Coyle economist at the University of Cambridge to look at how far the blast radius of an Ai crash might reach. Nathanael Benjamin from the Bank of England will explain why they issue a warning over inflated Ai business valuations and explain what the bank are doing to protect the economy from any shocks. And Jerry Kaplan Silicon valley insider and expert on the social and economic impact of Ai shares his experience of booms and busts in the technology industry and his thoughts on who might be left standing should the wheels come off the Ai financial band wagon.
Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong
Producer: Peter McManus
Researcher: Elizabeth Ann Duffy
Sound: Steve Greenwood and Sarah Hockley
WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002qtf0)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002qtf2)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
WED 17:00 PM (m002qtf4)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qtf6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 18:30 Crossing the Floor (m002qtf8)
Satirist Rosie Holt, co-writing with acclaimed comedy writer David Quantick, brings her viral hit MP alter-ego into a sitcom which is Yes Minister for a generation who have endured some truly loopy politicians.
Conservative backbencher 'Rosie Holt MP' is known for her car crash interviews. Rosie is full of passionate conviction - but that conviction changes depending on the demands of the moment, especially if it means being closer to power. Depressed about the almost certain imminent Labour landslide election victory she "crosses the floor", just in time to be on the winning side in the 2024 election, where she finds herself in a Labour Government.
The far-left factions terrify her while the centrists can't be persuaded to believe in anything remotely radical. Meanwhile, her Tory party friends relay tales of how the Conservatives are becoming increasingly deranged in defeat.
When protesting fishermen turn up in her constituency office to complain that the French won't let their fish in because of Brexit, Rosie panics into making policy on the hoof - passports for our fish. Like dog passports, but for fish.
Despite this, or because of it, Rosie is seen as a useful idiot and is made Minister of Ministerial Cohesion - a meaningless title which turns out to be a 'supply minister' diverting attention from the government's other battles. Can Rosie compromise her values? Does she actually have any values?
Starring:
Rosie Holt as alter-ego Rosie Holt MP
Mark Bonnar as Merlin Grimsdale
Ellie White as Nellie
Amy Gledhill as Sarah
Freya Carter as Faye
Emily Lloyd Saini as Aisha
Also, Ewan Bailey and Brendan Murphy
Directed by Sally Avens
Produced by Julian Mayers
A Yada Yada production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m002qtfb)
George makes his feelings clear, and the future is considered at Brookfield.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002qtfd)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002qh1s)
Child-free spaces
Should we have more child-free spaces?
The French state railway company has introduced child-free carriages on some of its high-speed trains. This has caused a row online.
Adam Fleming gets to the bottom of the story and asks if there is a growing demand for more child-free spaces. But is the debate simply a measure of growing intolerance - particularly of children - in society.
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Natasha Fernandes, Tom Gillett, John Murphy
Studio manager: Andrew Mills
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
WED 20:45 Magic Consultants (m001l271)
Affairs of State
What is the relationship between governments and consultants?
Adam Shaw continues his recce behind the curtain of the billion dollar management consultancy industry. In this episode he finds out when consultants and the state started working so closely together, and asks if that partnership has become a little too tight.
Be it getting man to the moon or rolling out the Covid vaccine, consultants have worked closely and successfully together. Bringing in expertise at the right time can be vital and cost effective. But how justified is the criticism that consultants are hollowing out the civil service, are they worth the billions we spend on them and are they ever conflicts of interest?
Adam sees a revolving door of consultants, business and government spin before his eyes; he traces the fine line between implementing policy and shaping it and asks if we are living in a consultantocracy, at risk of the industry undermining our democracy.
With contributions from: Tamzen Isacsson, CEO of the Management Consultancies Association, Matthias Kipping, Professor of Policy at the Schulich School of Business, Andrew Sturdy, Professor in Management at The University of Bristol, Chris McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, historian Antonio Weiss and authors Rosie Collington and Eric Edstrom.
Producer: Sarah Bowen
WED 21:00 Intrigue (m002q874)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Inside Health (m002qrk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002qtfh)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 The White Lady of Morecambe by Jenn Ashworth (m002qtfk)
3. King Tide Night
Julie Hesmondhalgh continues Jenn Ashworth's original five-part eco-gothic story, written for Radio 4.
Set in the near future, on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay, old stories face new realities. Britain’s coastline is now at risk, and while the sea takes bites out of the land, and the once prosperous town slowly shuts down, some hang on here in the Bay, clinging to hope, or perhaps to superstitions from the past. Others move inland, to the resettlement areas, fearful of the brutal new tides. Among those stubborn few remaining are cafe-owner Helen, her daughter Ruby and old friend Margery.
Today: on the night of the King Tide, thoughts inevitably turn to the past, to the old stories. But the teenage Ruby wants only to show the world what's happening to the Bay now...
Reader: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Writer: Jenn Ashworth
Producer: Justine Willett
WED 23:00 Doctors On Hold (m002qtfm)
Series 1
4. Peter Has a Bit of a Meltdown
Peter's failing marriage makes him an internet sensation for all the wrong reasons. Can AI pull his irons out of the fire?
Former doctors Tony Gardner and Phil Hammond draw on their own experiences and up-to-date research in a series of witty doctor-patient consultations set in a failing GP practice
Set in a typical GP surgery, struggling to cope with cuts, new NHS policy directives and an increasingly impatient set of patients, two disillusioned doctors battle with the stresses of their jobs and chaotic personal lives.
Doctors On Hold features a topical series of phone conversations between patients and various members of a GP team that reflects how much medicine is now dispensed over the phone in an overloaded and fragmented NHS, how frustrating it can sometimes be for patients and staff, and how funny and familiar it is for listeners.
Tony Gardner and Phil Hammond started their comedy careers on Radio 4 in the 90s, as junior doctors, with three series of Struck Off and Die. They won a Writers Guild Award for best radio comedy. They have since had very successful solo careers - Phil Hammond co-wrote five series of Radio 4's Polyoaks. He is Private Eye's medical correspondent 'MD'. Tony Gardner is an actor on stage and screen, whose recent credits include the hit show Accidental Death of an Anarchist.
Mina Anwar is well known to Radio 4 listeners from Fags, Mags and Bags.
Cast:
Tony Gardner as Dr Peter
Phil Hammond as Dr Mike
Mina Anwar as Malika Begum
Anna Crilly as Nelly and Sarah
Sir Ed Davey appears as himself.
Other parts are played by members of the cast
Written by Phil Hammond and Tony Gardner
Producer: David Morley
Sound Design and Music: Chris O'Shaughnessy
A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 The Skewer (m002qtfp)
Series 15
Episode 5
Jon Holmes brings you the week's biggest stories like you've never heard them before.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002qtfr)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2026
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002qtft)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qtdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qtfw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qtfy)
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 (m002qtg0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002qtg2)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qtg4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qtg6)
Pompeii speaks of humility before nature’s power and the preciousness of now.
Good morning!
Ever since I visited as a penniless student, I have always loved the Italian city of Naples – with menacing Mount Vesuvius in the bay.
In the shadow of that same volcano, the bustling Roman city of Pompeii thrived — markets rang with voices, frescoed homes glowed with colour, families shared meals, and children played in sunlit streets.
Life felt eternal, predictable, secure.
The mountain loomed quietly, its slopes green with vines, mistaken for a gentle guardian rather than a sleeping force.
Then, without warning, the earth roared. Ash rained for hours, pyroclastic surges raced down, and thousands perished.
Homes, temples, dreams — all buried under meters of debris.
Yet in that sudden end, Pompeii was preserved: loaves in ovens, graffiti on walls, bodies frozen in final gestures of terror or embrace.
The casts of victims remain haunting testaments to fragility.
Today, nearly two millennia later, Pompeii whispers a timeless truth: our world is not as permanent as we assume. We wake to routines — coffee brewing, loved ones nearby, plans stretching into tomorrow — taking them as given.
But disasters, whether volcanic, pandemic, or personal, remind us how swiftly the ordinary can vanish.
Climate shifts, unforeseen crises, or quiet health turns can erase everything that we cherish in an instant.
When I look at Vesuvius, I think of gratitude for my own life: the warmth of a hand, the sound of laughter, the simple safety of home, the breath in our lungs.
Pompeii speaks of humility before nature’s power and the preciousness of now.
So, today I pray in thanksgiving for the fragile beauty of this day. Guard our hearts against taking love, life, and peace for granted. Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002qtg8)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 06:00 Today (m002qth1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002qth3)
Henry IV Part 1
Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the most successful of Shakespeare's plays in his own time. Written with no Part 2 in mind as 'Henry the Fourth', the play explores ideas about who can be a legitimate ruler and why, and how anyone can rightly succeed to the throne. This was an especially pressing question for his Tudor audience as Elizabeth the First had named no successor. Playwrights, banned from openly discussing the jeopardy her subjects faced, turned to these themes of power, legitimacy and succession in distant and recent history. When Shakespeare combined this relevance with the vivid characters of Falstaff, Hotspur and Hal and with the tensions between noble fathers and sons, he had a play that fascinated well into the Jacobean era and has been revived throughout the centuries.
With
Emma Smith
Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford
Lucy Munro
Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London
And
Laurence Publicover
Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Bristol
Producer: Simon Tillotson
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002qth5)
Armando Iannucci and guests decode the utterly baffling world of political language.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002qth7)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
THU 11:00 This Cultural Life (m002qth9)
In-depth conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives across theatre, visual arts, music, dance, film and more. Hosted by John Wilson.
THU 11:45 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qthc)
Episode 4: Autumn
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth, Susan Owens offers a fresh look at how his life and work were shaped by his abiding love for his native Suffolk and the annual cycle of the natural world.
Today Constable is often considered to be a traditional artist, but he was a radical in his own time. Susan Owens describes how he rejected lazy, second-hand versions of nature; instead, he subjected the land, its people and its industry to intense scrutiny, and developed a new kind of painting to reflect the landscape and weather he saw with his farmer’s eye. He knew intimately the lanes, fields and millponds around his childhood home in East Bergholt in Suffolk, and he painted and understood the countryside as a place of labour as well as natural beauty.
Enriched with quotations from Constable’s funny, tender and acerbic letters, we follow him from his youth in the late 1700s, through the great love story of his marriage, to the final months of his life in 1837.
In this fourth episode Constable finally achieves success and recognition as a painter, but his professional achievements are overshadowed by the early death of his beloved wife Maria, a loss from which he never recovers.
Dr Susan Owens is an expert on British landscape art, and while Curator of Paintings at the V&A she was involved in the major exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master. Her latest book, The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History, was Apollo magazine’s Book of the Year in 2024.
Reader: Susannah Harker
Abridger and producer: Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Studio Production: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
THU 12:00 News Summary (m002qthf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m002qthh)
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters.
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002qthk)
VPNs
Greg Foot investigates the so-called wonder products making bold claims.
THU 12:57 Weather (m002qthm)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m002qthp)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
THU 13:45 In Detail... (p0m5126t)
Sanctuary: An Act of Defiance
Episode 4
A Sri Lankan man begs for sanctuary in a church in 1986.
Viraj Mendis says he faces death if sent back to his home country. Father John Methuen protects him from arrest, risking his reputation and the safety of Ascension church and allows a devoted group to protect him in the church.
Presenter Father Azariah France-Williams is the current rector of Ascension Church. He goes on a journey of discovery, finding out how the Sanctuary gamble leads to a two year culture war that defies Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's authority before crashing down.
Presenter: Father Azariah France-Williams.
Producer: Jen Dale.
Sound design: Kasel Kundola.
Online producer: Rachael Smith.
Executive producer: Ciaran Tracey.
Additional sound recording by Seb Rabas, Graham Kirk and Jan Seebeck.
Original material recorded and licensed by Big City Nights.
Executive editor: Andrew Bowman.
Commissioning editor: Alistair Miskin.
Artwork photograph of Viraj Mendis: Paul Mattsson.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002qtfb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001kgqm)
Wild Woman of the North
Wild Woman of the North by Esther Wilson
Inspired by a 'Wild Living' Community in Wales, a family moves to the countryside to try a new way of life that is closer to nature. They are recovering from a family tragedy. Will this new way of life heal them?
Laura......................Gillian Kearney
Mark.......................Lee Ingleby
Arlo.........................Tareq Al-Jeddal
Production Co-ordinator - Pippa Day
Tech Team - Tony Wass & Vanessa Nuttall
Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet
Producer/Director - Gary Brown & Pauline Harris
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m002qths)
Terminal Hillness in the north Lakes
Clare joins Ian Teasdale in the north Lake District for a very personal walk. Ian and his wife, Catherine, are on a mission to climb all 214 Wainwright fells as part of their 'Terminal Hillness' project which they started following Ian's diagnosis of incurable bowel cancer. He wants to raise awareness of the lack of cancer support facilities in their region and he decided the best way to do this was by completing a full round of the Wainwrights. As they hike up Longlands, Ian shares memories connected to the landscape he grew up in. The forecast was grim before they set off, but the sun shone, and the only rain that fell created the most beautiful rainbow across the valley.
They started at Longlands, Grid Ref NY266358, and completed a 6 mile circuit with views of Skiddaw and the Northern Fells.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002qrf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002qthv)
Vincentian Creole
Michael Rosen talks to linguist Teddy Mack about Vincy, a language rooted in English spoken on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, alongside standard English. But the English Teddy encountered when he moved to the UK proved to be very different (and far from standardised) and he's learned to switch throughout his life.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea, in partnership with the Open University.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz
THU 16:00 Rethink (m002qthx)
Rethink... authenticity
As generative AI and Deepfake technology has progressed over the last decade, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's never been more difficult to try to work out what is "authentic" and what is "fake".
But the search for authenticity is not new: it's a task that's challenged humanity for hundreds of years. Forgers have always tried to pass off copies as great artworks, but it's not always clear when an artist was responsible for an entire painting, or farmed out parts of the job to apprentices. Some modern artists delegate all of the construction or manufacture of some of their works to skilled craftsmen and women
Although the idea is theirs, does that make the final product somehow less than the genuine article?
Idiosyncrasies, perceived flaws or personal flourishes are often key indicators that show an image is authentic. We use those same tell-tale signs to judge the authenticity of another type of image: the one that politicians want to portray.
How important is it to be a politician who is seen as "authentic" by voters? How can we measure political authenticity? If someone is carefully crafting their image on social media, how "real" is it? And even if it is fake, do voters care, if they've been seduced by the illusion?
Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editors: Lisa Baxter and Nick Holland
Contributors:
Estelle Lovatt, FRSA. Art Critic, Writer and Lecturer.
Lone Sorensen, Associate Professor of Political Communication, University of Leeds
Nick Clarke, Professor of Political Geography, University of Southampton
Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology, at the City University of New York.
Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txy)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
THU 17:00 PM (m002qtj0)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qtj2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002qtj4)
Finlay Christie Is Younger Than You
In this Stand-up Special Finlay Christie makes his Radio 4 debut in front of a live audience at The Brunswick in Brighton.
He provides insight into how he and his generation have grown into the adults they’re now expected to be. Using new and existing material from his critically acclaimed Edinburgh shows he’ll cover topics like; the expectations of different generations; “pensioners complaining they can’t heat their house. That sounds like a boast – You’ve got a house?!’ ...”
- the differences between the generations; “People say young people are more sensitive, but every generation is sensitive, we’re just sensitive about different stuff. We’re sensitive about pronouns, old people are sensitive about Princess Diana.”
- how his generation feel about the world; "Gen Z are very nihilistic. World’s gonna end in our lifetimes and we don’t care. One girl in Sweden cared and that made the news.”
“TikTok has made me see people who watch films as intellectuals. Ooh, you have a penchant for cinéma?? Ohohoho.”
And how it now feels to be a man; “ the difference between Man and Boy - "Landlord bad…. rent boy..nice….” " “It’s a boy” - “congratulations”. “It’s a man” - “allegations.”
At 19, Finlay became one of the youngest ever winners of the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny competition, following in the footsteps of Peter Kay, Lee Mack and Sarah Millican. 3 years later, his debut Edinburgh show “OK Zoomer” was nominated for NextUp’s “Best Show” award and was released as a special in October 2023. His material, based around his experience as a Gen Z, led Chortle to describe him as “the voice of his generation.”
Producer: Julian Mayers
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002qtj6)
Emotions run high for the Gordon family, and Kenton finds himself caught in the middle.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m002qtj8)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002qtf0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002qtf2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002qrc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002qth5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002qtjb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The White Lady of Morecambe by Jenn Ashworth (m002qtjd)
4. The Burning Tide
Julie Hesmondhalgh continues Jenn Ashworth's original five-part eco-gothic story, written for Radio 4.
Set in the near future, on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay, old stories face new realities. Britain’s coastline is now at risk, and while the sea takes bites out of the land, and the once prosperous town slowly shuts down, some hang on here in the Bay, clinging to hope, or perhaps to superstitions from the past. Others move inland, to the resettlement areas, fearful of the brutal new tides. Among those stubborn few remaining are cafe-owner Helen, her daughter Ruby and old friend Margery.
Today: the King Tide, bigger than ever, has hit, and, as floodwaters batter the coast, Helen fears her daughter is out there, alone, on the shifting sands...
Reader: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Writer: Jenn Ashworth
Producer: Justine Willett
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002qtjg)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002qtjj)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament.
FRIDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2026
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002qtjl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qthc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002qtjn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002qtjq)
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 (m002qtjs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002qtjv)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002qtjx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002qtjz)
Technology is both a gift and a challenge
Good morning!
On this day in 1958, a little-remembered man applied for a patent for what would become known as an ‘integrated circuit’.
US inventor Jack Kirby is not exactly a household name in the same way that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk is.
But, his invention of the ‘integrated circuit’ – which was soon utilised in the first personal calculator – led to the microchip, which powers so much of what we rely on now in daily life.
Among the inventions that shaped the twentieth century, few can rival the microchip.
This tiny silicon component made possible the digital world we live in today: computers, mobile phones, satellites, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity systems.
Sometimes I wonder if life would’ve been simpler without the microchip.
I jest, of course, technology has made so many lives easier and has aided so many medical advances and improved the quality of life of so many people.
But technology is both a gift and a challenge. It can be used for so much good but can also cause so much harm.
Technology has made is so much easier to communicate, but it has also broken down boundaries to the extent where often we no longer know what is real and what is fake, artificial even.
Artificial intelligence is here to stay; it will revolutionise how we live our lives. It IS revolutionising how we live our lives.
But we need to have courageous conversations about how Artificial Intelligence can serve humanity, not the other way around.
So, today I pray for discernment – the wisdom to see technology as the gift it is, while accepting it must be harnessed for good. Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002qtk1)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 06:00 Today (m002qv6y)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002qrfh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002qv70)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002qv72)
The Future of Our Food
In a special edition Dan Saladino talks to the UK's biggest food producers and retailers to hear their visions for the future of food, health, sustainability and resilience.
Along with the DEFRA minister Dame Angela Eagle, some of the most influential figures in food and farming are gathering at the annual Sustainable Foods event held in London. On the agenda will be health and nutrition, food security, net zero and regenerative agriculture.
Will the ideas and strategies, outlined by the major supermarkets, food processers and farming organisations result in significant changes to food in the UK?
Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
FRI 11:45 Constable's Year by Susan Owens (m002qv74)
Episode 5: Winter
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of John Constable’s birth, Susan Owens offers a fresh look at how his life and work were shaped by his abiding love for his native Suffolk and the annual cycle of the natural world.
Today Constable is often considered to be a traditional artist, but he was a radical in his own time. Susan Owens describes how he rejected lazy, second-hand versions of nature; instead, he subjected the land, its people and its industry to intense scrutiny, and developed a new kind of painting to reflect the landscape and weather he saw with his farmer’s eye. He knew intimately the lanes, fields and millponds around his childhood home in East Bergholt in Suffolk, and he painted and understood the countryside as a place of labour as well as natural beauty.
Enriched with quotations from Constable’s funny, tender and acerbic letters, we follow him from his youth in the late 1700s, through the great love story of his marriage, to the final months of his life in 1837.
In this final episode we explore Constable’s growing fascination with the landscapes of winter as, towards the end of his life, he embarks on an ambitious project to publish his works as a sumptuous volume of prints.
Dr Susan Owens is an expert on British landscape art, and while Curator of Paintings at the V&A she was involved in the major exhibition Constable: The Making of a Master. Her latest book, The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History, was Apollo magazine’s Book of the Year in 2024.
Reader: Susannah Harker
Abridger and producer: Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Studio Production: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002qv76)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002qv78)
Peace talks for the culture wars. In an era of polarisation, propaganda, and pile-ons, Adam Fleming helps you work out what the arguments are really about.
FRI 12:57 Weather (m002qv7b)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002qv7d)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4
FRI 13:45 In Detail... (p0m5503s)
Sanctuary: An Act of Defiance
Episode 5
A Sri Lankan man begs for sanctuary in a church in 1986.
Viraj Mendis says he faces death if sent back to his home country. Father John Methuen protects him from arrest, risking his reputation and the safety of Ascension church and allows a devoted group to protect him in the church.
Presenter Father Azariah France-Williams is the current rector of Ascension Church. He goes on a journey of discovery, finding out how the Sanctuary gamble leads to a two year culture war that defies Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's authority before crashing down.
Presenter: Father Azariah France-Williams.
Producer: Jen Dale.
Sound design: Kasel Kundola.
Online producer: Rachael Smith.
Executive producer: Ciaran Tracey.
Additional sound recording by Seb Rabas, Graham Kirk and Jan Seebeck.
Original material recorded and licensed by Big City Nights.
Executive editor: Andrew Bowman.
Commissioning editor: Alistair Miskin.
Artwork photograph of Viraj Mendis: Paul Mattsson.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002qtj6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002qv7h)
Wolf Valley
Episode 3
Rose was witness to a dark Norse ritual the night before she died. What does the main suspect know?
Lena Ekström’s investigation widens as Lars’ story starts to unravel, revealing rituals, runes and the unsettling culture behind Valborg Academy. Clues begin to point toward Asgaard’s founders, and a call from Echo Terra deepens the corporate and political stakes around Rose’s death.
Meanwhile, a return to her childhood haunts, and a resurfacing trauma, threatens Lena’s composure just as the case takes a sharp turn. When she and Aksel track a lead to a secluded cabin, they make a shocking discovery that rips the investigation open. Wolf Valley’s shadows are lengthening, and Lena is being pulled further in than ever before.
The third episode of a propulsive Nordic noir ecothriller in which ancient beliefs and modern conspiracies converge within an isolated Nordic valley.
LENA - Amrita Acharia
AKSEL - David Menkin
MAGNUS - Eirik Knutsvik
HENRIK - Øystein Lode
HEADMASTER - Christopher Dane
VINNY - Alex Farrell
PAUL - Raj Ghatak
EVA - Ingvild Lakou
LARS - Laurits Bjerrum
SUSANNA - Ingrid Werner
ANNETTE - Sarah Whitehouse
WAITRESS - Ronja Haugholt
OSKAR - Raife Sutherland
LENA’S MUM - Ingvild Lakou
YOUNG LENA - Mackensie Sutherland
All other parts played by the cast
Written by Charlotte Melén
Composer - Marcus Aurelius Hjelmborg
Singer - Johanne Baadsgaard Lange
Sound Design - Louis Blatherwick, Steve Bond
Director - Charlotte Melén
Producer - Eleanor Mein
Assistant Producer - Chloe Sackur
Script Consultant - Lauren Shippen
Development Producer - Saskia Black
Executive Producers - Charlotte Melén, Celia de Wolff
An Almost Tangible production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:45 Materials of State (m002mn0f)
The Stone of Destiny
David Cannadine continues examining the origins, symbolism and contemporary significance of the objects and emblems that underpin the British constitution.
In this fifth episode, he’s looking at the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone - an ancient symbol of Scottish monarchy with a complex and contested history intertwined with both Scottish and British identity. The stone's earliest origins are shrouded in myth, but it was certainly used in the inauguration of Scottish kings at Scone Abbey from at least 1249. In 1296, King Edward I of England seized the stone as war booty. It was taken to Westminster Abbey and incorporated into a specially constructed Coronation Chair, which has been used in the coronation ceremonies of English, and later British, monarchs for over 700 years.
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students, who supported an independent Scottish Parliament, removed the stone from Westminster Abbey to draw attention to their nationalist cause. The stone broke in two during the removal and was secretly repaired by stonemason Bertie Gray in Glasgow before being left at Arbroath Abbey and subsequently returned to Westminster. Gray was a keen Scottish nationalist and he kept fragments of the Stone during its repair to give out as relics. The historian Sally Foster has traced the whereabouts of many of these fragments which have travelled far and wide.
In 1996, the Conservative Prime Minister John Major announced the stone's return to Scotland, with the agreement stipulating that the stone must be returned to Westminster Abbey for any future coronation ceremony. The stone was brought to Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023. It is now on permanent display at the Perth Museum in Scotland, near its place of origin in Scone. It can rest more easily as a heritage object now Scotland has it's own Parliament, yet David argues it is still a highly charged 'material of state' with a complex and contested history.
Contributors in order of appearance:
Mark Hall, Collections Officer, Perth Museum, Scotland
Dr Fiona Watson, historian
Professor Sally Foster, Professor of Heritage in History at the University of Stirling
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 (m002qv7k)
Kimpton
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Kimpton, Hertfordshire.
He's joined by Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Juliet Sargeant.
Producer: Matthew Smith
Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod
A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002qv7m)
The Bench by Isy Suttie
Clare has recently moved to Lyme Regis with her young son as her marriage has fallen apart. She doesn’t know anyone in the town but finds a moment of solace every day after the school run – a paddle in the sea, then a moment on the bench close to the beach café where she sits with a cup of tea. One day she leaves her cup on the bench and the next day there’s a note pinned to it admonishing her for doing so, saying it’s hazardous to wildlife. She is enraged and replies to the note saying it was a moment of absent-mindedness and what makes this person so perfect? She thinks that will be the end of it, but the next day there’s a note of apology – the sender of the note, Daniel, is a bird-lover sick of teenagers leaving litter around. Over the next few weeks, Clare and Daniel begin to form a written friendship of sorts, leaving each other notes on the bench.
Clare is beginning to settle into her new life but is then distracted by her ex wanting to visit and a mysterious package left on the bench for her on Valentine's Day.
A story about courage and new beginnings.
Written and read by Isy Suttie
Produced by Alison Crawford
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002qv7p)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 Sideways (m002qtdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002qv7r)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002qv7t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002qv7w)
Series 119
Episode 5
Andy Zaltzman is joined by panellists Desiree Burch, Pierre Novellie, Danny Finkelstein and Catherine Bohart to break down the week in news.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002qv7y)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Jessica Bunch
Editor: Jeremy Howe
David Archer.... Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer.... Angus Imrie
Kenton Archer.... Richard Attlee
Pat Archer.... Patricia Gallimore
Pip Archer.... Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer.... Felicity Finch
Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin
Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone
Anne Marie Gordon.... Kate Ashfield
Bill Gordon.... Matthew Gravelle
Clarrie Grundy.... Heather Bell
George Grundy.... Angus Stobie
Will Grundy.... Philip Molloy
Paul Mack.... Joshua Riley
Esme Mulligan.... Ellie Pawsey
Stella Pryor.... Lucy Speed
Hannah Riley.... Helen Longworth
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m002qv80)
Yorkshire
As another adaptation of Wuthering Heights hits cinemas, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at how God's Own County - Yorkshire - has been depicted in film and television, from Kes to Happy Valley.
With guests Clio Barnard, Jarvis Cocker and Sally Wainwright.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002qv82)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002qv84)
2nd to 8th February
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
This week: 2nd to 8th February
7th February 1974 - British Prime Minster Edward Heath calls a snap general election as the country grapples with a miners’ strike and an energy crisis.
5th February 1919 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith challenge the Hollywood power structure by forming their own film studio - United Artists.
2nd February 1709 - A decade before the publication of Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe', Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after spending four years marooned on an island in the South Pacific.
Presented by Viji Alles and Jane Steel.
FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002qv86)
Is Might Right?
'The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must'. So claimed the powerful Athenians, according to the Ancient Greek historian Thucydides. Plato tried to demonstrate that might does not make right, and thinkers ever since, from Hobbes and Rousseau to Kant and Carl Schmitt, have placed the idea that might is right at the centre of their political philosophies, for better or worse. Matthew Sweet traces the intellectual history of the idea, with Angie Hobbs, Margaret MacMillan, Lea Ypi, and Hugo Drochon.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002qv88)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The White Lady of Morecambe by Jenn Ashworth (m002qv8b)
5. What Remained
Julie Hesmondhalgh reads the final part of Jenn Ashworth's eco-gothic story, written for Radio 4.
Set in the near future, on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay, old stories face new realities. Britain’s coastline is now at risk, and while the sea takes bites out of the land, and the once prosperous town slowly shuts down, some hang on here in the Bay, clinging to hope, or perhaps to superstitions from the past. Others move inland, to the resettlement areas, fearful of the brutal new tides. Among those stubborn few remaining are cafe-owner Helen, her daughter Ruby and old friend Margery.
Today: Confused by who, or what, she saw out on the sands, Helen is finally forced to face her future...
Reader: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Writer: Jenn Ashworth
Producer: Justine Willett
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8bz3)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002qv8f)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament