SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2026
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002r4yz)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:30 The Colour of Home by Sajid Javid (m002r4xm)
Episode 5
The shouted racist abuse ricocheted off the walls of the Rochdale underpass that connected Sajid Javid's home and primary school. Even as a five year-old boy, he had learned that 1970s Britain could be a cruel and violent place for those seen as outsiders.
Leaving behind the devastation of Partition, Sajid's father moved from Punjab to the UK in the '60s. The family held on to many of their Indo-Pakistani traditions, setting them apart and often leading to rejection by their new neighbours.
In this tender but powerful memoir, Sajid Javid shares his story of a childhood marked by poverty, racism and the tension produced by trying to conform to two cultures. These led to run-ins with the police, trouble at school and eventually the risk of estrangement from his family by defying their wish for his arranged marriage in favour of choosing the woman he loved. With each new trial, Sajid learned to dig his heels in further, speaking up for himself and stubbornly refusing to accept the limits that seemed imposed by his background.
This is a story of hope, determination and survival - a tribute to the parents who gave everything and the brothers who struggled alongside him - and an invitation to every 'outsider' to keep going and dream big.
Episode Five
Sajid is horrified to discover that his father has arranged for him to marry his cousin, leading to a terrible family argument.
Read by Sajid Javid
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002r4z1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002r4z3)
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 (m002r4z5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002r4z7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002r4z9)
Self Love and True Love
Good Morning.
Heading towards 60, I’ve had plenty of years to explore the theme of love. Platonic love, romantic love, lost love, watching countless movies that have included stories of falling in and out of love.
As there’s been an increasing shift towards personal development in recent years, wellness practices and the media have brought attention to the pursuit and practice of “self love”.
But what is meant by “self-love”?
My reflections have considered how self-care is essential, but this isn’t self-love, although we can lovingly care for ourselves.
We may appreciate taking time to enjoy pleasures like dancing on the beach at sunset or getting a great massage, but I don’t feel this is self-love either.
My teacher once said that “true love” is “love of truth”.
When I stepped onto a spiritual path and the reality of God’s existence, I completely fell in love. I also began understanding a truer reality of my own existence through exploring more deeply the inner landscape of the heart.
The heart is often referred to as the “front door to God”. A truth that started revealing itself was that God is love and that each of us is created out of pure love. This is a permanent state of love that is ever present, but how willing am I to accept the truth of it and allow myself to truly and unconditionally be loved?
My prayer is that we can dare to dive deeper into the field of the heart, where true love exists without conditions or borders, and allow the God within us to love us. This feels to me the practice of true self-love. And from this place, I pray that the love I bring to everyone and everything I encounter in life can then become boundless and bountiful. Sat Naam
SAT 05:45 Life Without (m002r4y0)
Life Without the Moon
Full moon, half-moon, total eclipse. What happens when we look up and the moon is missing? In this episode of Life Without, our host Alan Davies imagines a world where the moon just ceases to exist, the Earth’s natural satellite gone.
What would happen to our tides and how would creatures who depend on moonlight to hunt survive? The loss of the Moon would also have a huge impact on our psyche and connection to the lunar calendar.
This episode features Sara Russell a Merit Researcher in Cosmic Mineralogy and Planetary Science and artist Luke Jerram who toured the world with his replica in Museum of the Moon.
An ITN production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002rd8m)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m002r4vt)
Brockley and Ladywell with Hana Sutch
Clare Balding heads to Brockley and Ladywell for a leafy London wander with Hana Sutch, co founder of the walking app Go Jauntly. Growing up in a family that didn’t walk for pleasure, Hana discovered the joy of rambling in her twenties, when a visit to her husband’s native Northumberland showed her the calming power of putting one foot in front of the other.
Later, as a new parent in the city, she struggled to find accessible green spaces - an experience that inspired her to create the app which helps walkers navigate routes easily, including by following images of landmarks.
As they wander, Hana discusses the challenges of building a start‑up as part of a small team of four, including hearing from big players in the field that she would never succeed.
Their route is a four‑mile urban circular starting in Ladywell. Avoiding main roads where possible, they head up and around Hilly Fields, down to Ladywell Fields and on to Blythe Hill before ending the walk, where they met, in Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries. You can find out more at www.gojauntly.com The walk Hana and Clare took together will go live on the app when the programme is broadcast.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002rd8p)
14/02/26 Farming Today This Week: Flooding on farms, landscape recovery projects, AI in dairy
After what was the wettest January on record for some, more rain means more problems for farmers, from flooding and waterlogged fields to worries about the impact on this year's harvest and their bottom lines. This week we heard from farmers at different ends of the country.
We hear from the Environment Agency boss on building resilience though natural flood management, in a landscape recovery project in Oxfordshire.
And AI in dairy: Big Brother is watching moo.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m002rd8r)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m002rd8t)
Today (Saturday)
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002rd8w)
Mark Steel, Nun at NASA, Funeral Cosmetics, and the Inheritance Tracks of Matt Edmonsdon
Today we have a comedian, a nun and an undertaker’s beautician.
Mark Steel says that when there’s a crisis afoot, while everyone else is panicking the comedians in the room are busy finding the funny side. This Mark’s done, with a book about what he calls his adventures in cancerland.
The remarkable Sister Libby Osgood, worked for NASA before she became a nun. Quite the career path that.
And Jayne Lownds - who brought her expertise as a high-street beautician into the family funeral business.
Also today the annual pancake race still being run more than 550 years after it started - and the Inheritance Tracks of Radio 1 DJ and boardgame designer Matt Edmondson.
Presenter: Adrian Chiles
Producer: Ben Mitchell
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Gareth Nelson-Davies
SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002rd8y)
Epic of Gilgamesh: myths and heroes in ancient Mesopotamia
Greg Jenner is joined in the ancient world by Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid and comedian Marjolein Robertson to learn all about the famous Mesopotamian poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Sumerian poems about a legendary king called Gilgamesh began to be composed sometime in the third millennium, and were told and retold throughout Mesopotamia until a Babylonian scholar named Sîn-leqi-unninni wrote down what has become the standard version. The tale he recorded tells of a tyrannical king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, and the transformative journey he takes with his enemy-turned-friend (and possibly more), Enkidu. In the 3100 lines of the poem, they fight forest guardians and celestial bulls, anger the gods, and even challenge death itself. In this episode, we retell the story of Gilgamesh, exploring the history of the epic’s composition, what it tells us about ancient Mesopotamian storytelling and beliefs, and how it was rediscovered in the nineteenth century, written in cuneiform on clay tablets housed in the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. We also look at the themes of companionship, community and environmental protection that are still relevant today, and ask the question: is Gilgamesh just a legend, or was he based on a real king?
If you’re a fan of captivating myths and legends from the ancient world, heroic kings and impossible quests, and historians decoding ancient texts, you’ll love our episode on the Epic of Gilgamesh.
If you want more ancient history with Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid, listen to our episodes on the Babylonians and Cuneiform. And for more from Marjolein Robertson, check out our episode on Robert Bruce.
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: Katharine Russell
Written by: Katharine Russell, 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 (m002rd90)
Getting Chippy
Greg James explores the BBC Archives using overlooked anniversaries, the big stories of the week and your suggestions to guide him to extraordinary audio.
Following this week's headlines about a crisis for fish and chips, with fried chicken shops taking over the high streets, Greg finds out that chippies have been in crisis since the 1960s, when Alan Whicker reported on a possible shortage of chips in Wales. He also visits the Dorchester Hotel where the price of fried chicken is under scrutiny.
It's 60 years since John Lennon said to a reporter that the Beatles were 'more popular than Jesus', sparking outrage across the United States and almost leading to the cancellation of the band's US tour. Greg finds extraordinary archive of Maureen Cleave, the British journalist who interviewed John, as well as recordings of the protests and the ensuing press conference where John had to apologise.
After leading the nation in morning stretches on his Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Greg discovers that the BBC has been doing morning exercise programmes for a long time. During the war, the BBC broadcast daily 'physical jerks' with instructors taking listeners through their paces set to lively and live piano music.
For Valentine's Day, he looks at the history of computer dating, from early experiments in the sixties using computers to match compatible couples to a very sceptical reporter on Nationwide in 1976.
And a disgruntled listener writes in to correct Greg's understanding of hovercrafts, leading to more inflatable fun - and a man who has built a 25 foot submarine in his front garden.
Producer: Tim Bano
Series archivists: Tariq Hussain and Gordon Edmonds
An EcoAudio certified production
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m002rd92)
Caroline Wheeler of The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster.
After a week in which the Prime Minister had to fight for his political survival, Caroline speaks to Labour grandee, Alan Johnson, a Cabinet minister in both the Blair and Brown governments, and Peter Hyman, a former strategist for Tony Blair when he was in Number Ten.
In the wake of the scandal around Peter Mandelson, and amid concerns about the slow progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a new cross-party group is calling for 'wholesale' reform of the House of Lords. One of those involved is Carmen Smith of Plaid Cymru, the youngest member of the House of Lords. Lord Young of Acton, a Conservative peer and founder of the Free Speech Union, is concerned that rule changes on stripping peerages could be used to suppress speech.
Ahead of the Government's Schools White Paper, which is likely to include controversial reforms to special educational needs provision, Caroline speaks to Jo Hutchinson of the Education Policy Institute about how the system might be changed.
And, to discuss what it's like inside Number Ten at moments of political crisis, Caroline brings together Guto Harri, former Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, and Luke Sullivan, former political director for Sir Keir Starmer.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002rd94)
Japan's 'Iron Lady' Takaichi wins landslide victory
Kate Adie introduces stories from Japan, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Poland and Pakistan.
A snap election has given Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi the strongest majority for a Japanese government in more than 70 years, thanks to a growing fan-base among young voters. Shaimaa Khalil reports from Tokyo on growing cult around the country's first woman leader.
The visit by the Prince of Wales to Saudi Arabia was among the most diplomatically sensitive of his official trips to date. While the focus was energy transition and improving prospects for young people, questions lingered over Saudi human rights, and controversies back home in the UK. Daniela Relph followed Prince William’s visit.
Uganda has been feeling the bite of international aid cuts, imposed by the likes of the UK, the EU, and notably by President Trump. The closure of the USAID agency has disrupted an array of relief projects, including those providing treatment for HIV-AIDS. Bel Trew met some of the people directly affected.
An art exhibition in the Polish city of Gdansk has ignited a row over the country’s role in World War Two. John Kampfner went to see the exhibit for himself and reflects on the country's fractious culture war.
And the skies above Lahore in Pakistan have been filled with thousands of kites, as the festival of Basant returned. It’s the first time in two decades the celebrations have been allowed to go ahead - following a surprising spate of deaths. Caroline Davies joined generations of Lahoris in the celebrations.
Producer: Serena Tarling
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002rd96)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002rd98)
Pension Delays Apology and Romance Scams
The Chief Executive of Capita Public Services has apologised for the serious delays thousands of civil servants are facing simply to get paid their pensions. Richard Holroyd was speaking to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday when he admitted his service was "overwhelmed" when it took over the running of the civil service pension scheme in December. We'll get reaction from people affected and hear from Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
Love might be in the air for some today - but with the roses and candlelight, comes a warning about criminals working in the shadows to trick people into giving away their money. Romance scams are types of fraud when a scammer pretends to be in a relationship with someone to gain money or personal information from them. They often start online or on social media. More than twenty million pounds was lost to romance scams in the first half of last year, up more than a third compared to 2024. We'll hear from one listener who says he lost £30,000 to a romance scam.
How will a planned replacement to the Lifetime ISA work and what will it mean for people who’ve already got one?
And what to do if you think you might be eligible for the Warm Homes Discount this winter but haven't had the payment yet.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Jo Krasner and Niamh McDermott
Editor: Jess Quayle
Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast
12pm Saturday 14th February 2026)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002r4yf)
Series 119
6. Is the UK getting sunnier?
This week the panel discuss PM Keir Starmer fighting off a potential coup; whether it’s a good idea to take Valentine’s day tips from a two-timing Norwegian athlete; and after 40 days of rain in some parts of the UK, is the country actually getting sunnier?
Joining Andy this week is Alasdair Beckett-King, Rachel Fairburn, Stephen Bush and Mhairi Black.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Cody Dahler, Eve Delaney, Jade Gebbie, Ruth Husko and Peter Tellouche.
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
SAT 12:57 Weather (m002rd9b)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News (m002rd9d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002r4ym)
Meghan Gallacher MSP, Gerry Hassan, Ivan McKee MSP, Kirsty McNeill MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Denny Civic Theatre in Dumbarton, with Scottish Conservative MSP and housing spokesperson Meghan Gallacher; the writer and academic Gerry Hassan; the SNP Scottish Government's public finance minister Ivan McKee MSP; and the Labour UK Government's Scotland Office minister, Kirsty McNeill MP.
Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant producer: Jo Dwyer
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcast engineer: Niall Young
Editor: Glyn Tansley
SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002rd9g)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?
Producer: Lowri Morgan
Assistant Producer: Lucy Gilder & Ribika Moktan
Editor: Gareth Nelson-Davies
SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002r4yh)
As oblivious David collects glasses at The Bull, Ruth turns up dressed for a romantic dinner. Her plan has worked, and they settle down for a Valentine’s date. David admits this is better than squeezing in at the bar, but now they’ve got a free evening tomorrow. Ruth jokes they could use that time to work on their wills, as they’ve already told the children the succession plans. David hopes his dad would think they’re passing on Brookfield in good shape. Reminiscing, the couple recall their first Valentine’s Day together almost forty years ago.
Alice arrives at The Bull to take Fallon for a night out at a comedy gig as a surprise. In between acts, Fallon asks if Alice is looking for a Valentine, and flustered Alice confesses there is someone who has crossed her mind. Fallon agrees Rex is lovely. She points out if Alice is interested, she’s just going to have to ask him out.
Ruairi arrives back from the Suffolk farm visit to Brian, who tells him about George’s visit and his own subsequent confession. Ruairi is stunned – surely Brian didn’t confess without solid evidence? Brian asks if he’d rather he told George that it was Ruairi who attacked him. Ruairi says he’ll tell the truth, but Brian insists he’ll do no such thing. He made a promise to Siobhan to keep him safe. If Ruairi wants to get back into Brian’s good books, then he’s got to work for it.
SAT 15:00 Secrets and Lies (m002rd9j)
I Remember You
Three men in their 70s meet at the funeral of successful novelist, Paula Reece, who they’ve all been married to - Alan (Bill Paterson), when Paula was an actress in her twenties, Ed (Nicholas Le Prevost) when Paula was a barrister in her 40s, and George (Jonathan Pryce) when Paula became a novelist in her 50s and who was still married to her when she died.
After the other mourners have gone, the three men find themselves sitting in the evening sun on the terrace of George and Paula’s Cornish country house comparing memories of the remarkable woman who has been so central to all their lives. It's not long before grief gives way to grievance.
If only Alan hadn’t accused Ed of appropriating his Beatles records. If only George hadn’t pointed out that he paid for Ed’s and Paula’s daughter’s upbringing. If only Ed hadn’t charged George with stealing his wife. If only George hadn’t read the private notes that Paula had made about all three of her three husbands and shared them with his volatile company.
But they did.
In the aftermath, Ed bleeds, Alan nearly drowns in the ornamental duckpond, and George finally cries. But when the sun goes down and the landscape lighting comes up, a flicker of enlightenment emerges.
George ….. Jonathan Pryce
Alan ….. Bill Paterson
Ed ….. Nicholas Le Prevost
Writer ….. John Burrows
Sound ….. Leon Chambers
Director ….. Jessica Dromgoole.
Producer ….. Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002rd9l)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Kinship carers, Ashley James, Mia Brookes’s mum, impact of Ian Paterson's crimes, Charles Dickens’s women
More than 141,000 children are in kinship care in England and Wales. According to new research from the charity Kinship, 40% of kinship carers are forced to claim benefits or increase their benefits when they step in to take on the care of a child from a family member. To explain why some kinship carers want the same parental rights as others in a parental role, like an adoptive parent, Clare McDonnell is joined by the CEO of Kinship, Lucy Peake and carer Nash, who took on the permanent care of her sister’s children after her sister died.
Broadcaster, model and activist Ashley James says she’s always been underestimated and often written off as a ‘bimbo’. But now she’s reclaiming the word as the title of her new book, which explores many of the judgmental labels used to describe women and their life choices. From 'bossy' to 'mumsy' to 'silly girl', Ashley joined Clare to unpack the impact such words can have on women and girls and why she hopes opening up about her own experiences will inspire others to stop shrinking and shake them off.
Team GB snowboarder Mia Brookes gave an amazing performance coming fourth in the women's snowboard big air final at the Winter Olympics in Italy. The 19-year-old had been hoping to become Great Britain's first gold medallist on snow. She went for a backside 1620 trick - featuring four-and-a-half rotations - and landed before she over-rotated and her heel edge caught in the snow. Mia's mum, Vicky Brookes, joined presenter Nuala McGovern on the line from her campervan in Livigno close to the Olympic venue.
Deborah Douglas has written a memoir about her experience as a victim turned campaigner in one of the biggest scandals in British medical history. Her story sits at the centre of the case of disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson, jailed in 2017 for performing harmful and unnecessary operations on women who believed they were being treated for cancer. An inquiry in 2020 found both NHS and private hospitals missed repeated chances to stop him. Deborah joined Clare to discuss The Cost of Trust.
A new exhibition at the Charles Dickens museum celebrates the women who influenced the great Victorian novelist's female characters, social commentary and campaigning to improve the lives of vulnerable women. But how does this sit alongside the other, darker narrative, that Dickens himself was a misogynist who mistreated his own wife? To sort the fact from the fiction, the exhibition curator Kirsty Parsons & the historian Professor Jenny Hartley joined Nuala to discuss.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Annette Wells
SAT 17:00 PM (m002rd9n)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002rd9q)
Nigel Farage: 'Broken Britain', national identity and lessons from Trump
A frank conversation with the leader of Reform UK.
Nigel Farage has put his party on a "general election war footing" and says he is preparing for power.
What has his party still got to learn before they're ready?
Who is he referring to when he talks about putting "our own people first"?
And what made him change his mind and return to politics?
Senior Producer: Daniel Kraemer
Producer: Flora Murray
Editor: Giles Edwards
Sound: Ged Sudlow
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002rd9s)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m002rd9v)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rd9x)
UK says Russia killed Navalny with dart frog toxin
The UK and allies say tests have shown the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was killed by an extremely rare poision found in the skin of Ecuadorean dart frogs. The Russian government has denied any involvement. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has told the Munich Security Conference that Europe must show it shares Washington's values as part of a revitalised transatlantic relationship. Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by her husband and dozens of other men, has told the BBC she wants to visit him in prison to get answers.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002rd9z)
Tim Firth, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Operation Mincemeat, Lois, Stuart Maconie, Tom Hodgkinson
Stuart talks to the award winning writer and composer of Calendar Girls and Kinky Boots - Tim Firth - about his latest stage creation, The Ladies Football Club. Can the man who got his break with a play about two yucca plants strike fresh gold with this tale of the women who began to play football whist working in Sheffield's munitions factories during World War I and end up playing to many thousands in a South Yorkshire women's league.
Taskmaster and Mr Bigstuff star Fatiha El-Ghorri says she's ironing her swaggest hijab to head out on her debut stand up tour - Cockney Stacking Doll. She'll also have the story of her journey out from divorce and back on the dating scene in her new Radio 4 comedy - A Match Made Inshallah.
Tom Hodgkinson's the editor of The Idler and author of books such as How to be Idle, The Idle Parent and - here's the outlier - The Ukelele Handbook. So perhaps busier than he makes out? His new book is a fresh look at one of the world's oldest philosophies - How to Live Like A Stoic. Stoicism is having a moment in the manosphere but he explains how "bro-ism" has got stoicism all wrong.
With music from the cast of the smash hit musical Operation Mincemeat and from BBC Introducing "one to watch" , Lois.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Olive Clancy
Assistant Producer: Samuel Nixon
Technical Producers: John Coles, Amy Brennan, Phillip Halliwell
Production Co-ordinator: Pete Liggins.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m002rdb1)
Teyana Taylor
It’s awards season - and one name that keeps cropping up is Teyana Taylor.
She’s nominated for her first Oscar, for her role in One Battle After Another, and has already won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and her latest album was just nominated for the Best R&B Grammy.
For many, it would appear Taylor has burst on to the scene from nowhere - but for those who know her, these nominations are the culmination of more than two decades of work in the industry.
Signed at just 15 to Pharrell’s record label, appearing in a Jay-Z music video and choreographing a dance for Beyonce, her early years in New York’s Harlem weren’t exactly the usual teenage experience.
Her 16th birthday was immortalised on the small screen as part of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen series, before she released her first record and began acting. Now a mother-of-two, Taylor has released four albums to date, starred in her own reality TV series and will make her directorial debut next year.
So, as Hollywood prepares for the award’s night of the year, Stephen Smith examines how she got here.
Production Team:
Presenter: Stephen Smith
Producers: Keiligh Baker and Katie Solleveld
Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Gemma Ashman
Sound: James Beard
Editor: Justine Lang
Archive:
MTV
The Golden Globes
Warner Bros
E!
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m002r4v7)
Julian Barnes
The novelist, essayist and critic Julian Barnes talks to John Wilson about his career and formative cultural influences. One of the most acclaimed and distinctive British writers of his generation, his early novels, including Metroland, A History Of The World In 10 and a Half Chapters, and Flaubert’s Parrot, established his reputation for blending fiction, factual biography and philosophical reflection. Julian Barnes won the Booker Prize in 2011 for The Sense Of An Ending, and the same year won the prestigious David Cohen Prize for Literature, awarded for a body of work. A famous Francophile, he was given the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of France’s highest cultural honours in 2004. He has said that his latest book, Departure(s) will be his final novel.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m002rdb3)
Airbrushing Autocracy: The Fall and Rise of the Marcoses
On 25 February 1986, Asia’s oldest democracy peacefully took control of its destiny.
Ferdinand Marcos, a democratically elected president-turned dictator, who remains accused of widespread graft and human rights abuses, had gambled on one too many rigged elections. After days of mounting protests and the defection of the military to the opposition, Marcos and his family were ejected from their gilded palace in Manila. These events have since been named the People Power Revolution.
The uprising ushered in a return to constitutional democracy, guardrails on executive power, and a new constitution that redistributed power from Manila to local governments across the 7,500-island archipelago. It was also supposed to seal the fate of the Marcoses once and for all - permanent exile in Hawaii.
At least, so the Filipinos thought.
Forty years on, not only are the Marcoses back, but they’re arguably stronger than ever. Ferdinand’s eldest, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jnr, is now president, with his sister, son, and various cousins in Congress. It’s a far cry from the Philippines of 1986, when the post-revolution state vowed ‘never again’ to let any Marcos near the halls of power.
But the story of the last four decades isn’t simply one of a profound Marcos restoration. While the family has certainly been adept at resurrection, the story of the post-revolutionary Philippines can’t be separated from the failures of the post-revolutionary state. Politics remains dynastic, the economy profoundly unequal, while corrupt officials rarely face accountability. It’s a cocktail for popular disaffection with democracy itself.
Presenter: Shiela Coronel
Producer: Alan Weedon
Executive Producer: Louise Orchard
A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 Artworks (m002fvk8)
Three Transformations of Virginia Woolf
3. Gender
‘Orlando had become a woman - there is no denying it.’
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 the impact of Woolf’s ideas about gender, both on individuals and on culture.
Fiona hears from authors Naomi Alderman and Michelle de Kretser; Woolf biographer Alexandra Harris; drag king Holly James Johnston; Eleanor Black from the National Trust; filmmaker Sally Potter; philosopher Paul Preciado; Professor of Comparative Literature, Rachel Bowlby; and Professor of English, Mark Hussey.
Extracts read by Gwendoline Christie.
Produced by Ellie Richold for BBC Audio
SAT 21:30 Artworks (m002nv5h)
The Poetry Detective
Are the Kids Alright?
Vanessa Kisuule unearths the poems that speak to the big issues we are grappling with. This week, it's raising teens
How might we equip kids for a future, that we adults are struggling to get our heads around? In this media-saturated, politically-divided, ecologically threatened landscape, how can we raise resilient, happy children? And what, if anything, can poetry do to help us along the way?
With poets Matthew Guenette, Jackie Kay and Steven Camden (aka Polar Bear), Valerie Kinloch, author of June Jordan: Her Life and Letters... and some obliging kids.
Produced in Bristol by Ellie Richold
SAT 22:00 News (m002rdb5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002r4xk)
Eating Together
A year after sharing a £10 supper with 200 strangers in Copenhagen’s Absalon - an old church turned community hub - Sheila asks whether that experience could be recreated in the UK. After all, communal meals here are often one-offs, sometimes pricey, or feel like generous soup kitchens.
In this edition, Sheila meets people determined to change that; Ingrid Wakeling and Phil Holtam from Sussex Surplus are running trial communal dining events in Brighton, using surplus food to bring strangers together. Anna Chworow from Nourish Scotland is helping shape two pilot public diners - subsidised, everyday restaurants designed for everyone, while Jon Harper from Future Foundations explains how CanTeam is turning school canteens into community dining rooms.
Sheila also visits The Long Table in Stroud - a pay-what-you-can community restaurant - to meet co-founder Tom Herbert, and is joined there by zero‑waste chef Max La Manna and Carly Trisk‑Grove from The Public Plate, who want every community to have their own low‑cost restaurant. Together, they discuss what it would take to make their dreams reality - and why they believe it matters.
Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan.
More info:
Communal Dining -Part 1: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028l2c
The Long Table: https://thelongtableonline.com/
The Public Plate (Carly Trisk-Grove's project): https://www.thepublicplate.com/about
Nourish Scotland project: https://www.nourishscotland.org/projects/public-diners/
Right to Food Commission (Ian Byrne MP's project): https://www.ianbyrne.org/rtfcommission
Sussex Surplus (Brighton): https://www.sussexsurplus.org/
CanTeam: http://www.canteam.org/
NB: Be aware these links take you to external non-BBC websites.
SAT 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002rdb7)
Fatiha El-Ghorri: A Match Made Inshallah
A Match Made Inshallah is a fearless, funny show where the 44-year-old, twice-divorced stand-up comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri is looking for love and ready to date - and she wants us all to be her wingman.
Mixing stand-up, commentary, and the actual date itself, we will hear Fatiha’s deepest thoughts, hopes, dreams, and judgements as we join her every step of the way through the dating minefield.
Written and Performed by Fatiha El-Ghorri
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producers: Jon Holmes and Carrie Rose
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:15 Lady Clementine Is Looking For Love (m002rdb9)
Is Charlie Rowe 'The One'?
Join Regency renegade Lady Clementine on her increasingly desperate quest to find love as she enters the world of modern dating. She’s tried everything to bag a man before her 27th birthday - wandering the armoury looking confused, bloodletting (just to feel something), and propositioning all her cousins (just the beefcakes, mind you). But disturbingly, nothing has worked – yet.
Part poet, part arsonist and described as if “Florence Pugh played Mr Bean in a corset”, Lady Clem is endearingly delusional and catastrophically self-absorbed. Like a Jane Austen novel that’s had too much gin, and far too much laudanum, she simply cannot fathom why love isn’t knocking down her door.
So now, she’s attempting her last resort - celebrity dating.
Enter her first date (semi-willingly), actor Charlie Rowe. Her mission? To find out if he could be ‘The One’ and save her from spinsterdom. Can the trenches of modern dating played out in Lady Clem’s crumbling Regency world really be the path to romantic bliss?
Written, created and starring Rosalie Minnitt
With special guest Charlie Rowe
Produced by Alison Vernon-Smith and Ella Blaxill
Additional material by Tristan Robinson
Sound Engineer: David Thomas
Executive Producer: Eve Streeter
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m002r3gg)
Series 39
Heat 6, 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 ‘Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside', 'Berlin and music' and '70’s rock pioneers'.
Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2026
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002rdbd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m002r3gd)
Bryan Washington
The American writer Bryan Washington speaks to Take Four Books about his new novel, Palaver, and, together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. Palaver focuses on the tense relationship between protagonists “the son” and “the mother”. The son is an American who has lived in Tokyo for the best part of a decade, teaching English as a foreign language. Throughout this period, he’s been estranged from his Jamaican-American mother back home in Texas, until one day she arrives uninvited on his doorstep.
Bryan's three chosen influences in this episode are: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto from 1988; Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson from 2016; and Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park from 2021.
Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rdbg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rdbj)
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 (m002rdbl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rdbn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002rdbq)
Holy Trinity Church in Privett, Hampshire
Bells on Sunday comes from Holy Trinity Church in Privett, Hampshire. Situated on the site of a medieval Chapel the current church building was completed in 1878. Featuring Early English design and a fine Gothic interior it was built by the renowned architect Sir Arthur Blomfield. The church has a Peal of eight bells cast by the Mears and Stainbank foundry of Whitechapel in 1877. The Tenor weighs twelve hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F. We hear them now ringing Stedman Triples.
SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002r4s3)
Pavement Parking in England, Charity Law
Councils across England are to be given more extensive powers to tackle pavement parking. The new powers are due to take effect later this year, alongside guidance on how the rules can be enforced in a proportionate way. The Local Government Association provide In Touch with details of what these new powers might look like across the country and when. A nation-wide ban was introduced in Scotland a couple of years ago; we check in on how that has been going.
Following on from last weeks update on the Macular Society controversy, an independent charity lawyer provides information about the rights of members and the roles of the trustees within a charitable organisation.
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 (m002rdbt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m002r4rn)
Prison violence, sound and survival
The winner of the British Society of Criminology Book Award in 2025 was Kate Herrity. Her study looks at the way our different senses contribute to the experience of prison life and is called Sound, Order and Survival in Prison: The Rhythms and Routines of HMP Midtown. Her research looks at the way for many prisoners, listening becomes a vital survival practice.
Kate Gooch is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Bath. In her new book, 'Prison Violence - The Search for Recognition and Respect', she analyses the nature, causes and culture of prison victimisation in an English young offender institution for men aged 18-21 years old. Her research examines how hierarchies develop, how fear circulates, and how both staff and young men negotiate constantly shifting landscapes of threat, reputation and authority.
Laurie Taylor presents.
Producer: Natalia Fernandez
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002rdbw)
The Crofting Archaeologist
The past is never far from the surface in Shetland, and for archaeologist Chris Dyer history weaves into the warp and weft of his agricultural approach. While working for the Shetland Museum Chris developed his passion for farming, finally taking on Garths Croft in 2014. Hunkered on a hillside on the island of Bressay, the fifty acre croft looks out toward Lerwick and the cliffs of mainland Shetland.
Like many Shetland crofters, Chris combines his different skills to make a living. This is allowing him to run Garths Croft in a diverse way, using his knowledge of Shetland’s past to drive his curiosity and guide his way. He focuses on native and heritage breeds, including Shetland sheep, which he breeds to draw out colours and patterns for weaving and knitting. The ancient roots of language and culture found in the history of this characterful breed are a great fascination, and one that he shares with the many visitors that he welcomes to the croft for tours. His flock are particularly popular during Shetland Wool Week, and the fleeces are bought by knitters and weavers all around the world.
Chris’s archaeological knowledge of past vegetation on Shetland has allowed him to plant native tree species, using them and drystone walls he's built to protect the produce that he grows with his partner Joanna Sandison. Their produce is taking them closer to self-sufficiency as they experiment with what they grow, and some of the tasty morsels used in Joanna’s baking business. Together, they are forging a path where their combined skills are helping the croft to evolve for the future.
Presented and produced in Shetland by Rose Ferraby
SUN 06:57 Weather (m002rdby)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002rdc0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002rdc2)
The new leader of the RC church in England and Wales; war surgeon David Nott
Archbishop of Westminster Richard Moth gives his first interview since being installed on St Valentine's Day. The 67-year-old becomes the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, taking over from Cardinal Vincent Nichols who retired last year.
Ramadan and Lent are due to get underway around the same time next week - a coincidence that hasn't been seen in decades. We hear from two friends - one Christian and one Muslim - about what they have learned from the other's season of preparation and abstinence.
Have you picked up or deepened a spiritual practice by exposure to another faith?
War surgeon David Nott talks to Emily about the faith that motivates him to operate in the most dangerous situations, and the maverick Christian organisation, the Free Burma Rangers that enables his work in Myanmar.
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rdc4)
Samaritans
Ambassador for Samaritans Scarlett Moffatt presents this week’s Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity. The charity’s network of twenty thousand trained “listening volunteers”, offer a twenty-four hour response to calls for help over the phone and via online chat.
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 ‘Samaritans’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Samaritans’.
- 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: in England and Wales 219432, in Scotland SC040604. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *http://samaritans.org
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
SUN 07:57 Weather (m002rdc6)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002rdc8)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002rdcb)
St Matthew's Gospel
A service from St Olave Hart Street, in the City of London, exploring St Matthew’s gospel. The service is led by the Rector of St Olave, Rev Philip Dawson, with spoken word by Dai Woolridge and reflections by Rev Laura Luz. St Martin’s Voices provide the music. The Director of Music is Andrew Earis.
Readings:
Matthew 5: 3-11
Matthew 18: 1-5
Matthew 22: 34-40
Matthew
25:31-46
Music Includes:
In all things – Andrew Earis
Blessed be your name – Matt Redman
Speak, O Lord, as we come to you – Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
A New Commandment – Richard Shephard
The Lord’s Prayer - Bob Chilcott
You do not walk alone – Elaine Hagenberg
Producer: Alexa Good
SUN 08:48 Tweet of the Day (m002rdcd)
Hannah Stitfall on the Long-tailed Tit
Every Spring wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall heads out to look for long-tailed tits. She hopes to film them building their nests - intricate, domed structures built out of moss, feathers and spider silk. Unlike many other small birds, the long-tailed tit is capable of cooperative breeding, and will help relatives raise their chicks if their own don't survive. For Hannah the long-tailed tit is one of the quiet wonders of the countryside, and a reminder that even the smallest creatures live fascinating lives.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
SUN 08:50 In Other News (m002rdcg)
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 (m002rdcj)
Calls for new inquiries over Andrew's time as UK Trade Envoy
An MP tells BH there should be a new inquiry over Andrew's time as UK Trade Envoy. Also: reviews of Wuthering Heights and how retraining in middle age can be liberating.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002rdcl)
Richard Young, photographer
Richard Young is a photographer who was once known as the “king of the paparazzi”.
His portfolio is a who’s who of some of the biggest stars in film, music, stage and popular culture from the past fifty years. From gatecrashing Elizabeth Taylor’s party for Richard Burton’s 50th at the Dorchester to later being invited to photograph her Damehood celebrations. He can count the first photographs of Paul Getty Jr. after his kidnapping as just one of his many scoops.
He was born in Hackney to a Jewish family and his father ran a hosiery stall in Berwick Street market for more than sixty years. Richard has dyslexia and after being expelled from school at fourteen, he went to Soho and landed a job in fashionable clothes shop frequented by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, David Hockney and Francis Bacon.
A two-year stint in New York followed, working as a studio assistant at Electric Lady Studios, before he returned to London and found himself in a bookshop handed a camera and told to get on with photographing authors.
For the past fifty years, he has lived a nocturnal, high octane life of private jets, parties and exclusive events, eventually becoming as much a fixture in the world of celebrity as the people he photographed.
Richard lives in London with his wife Susan. His photography gallery is in London and has visitors from around the world.
DISC ONE: Rehab - Amy Winehouse
DISC TWO: Just Walkin’ in the Rain - Johnny Ray
DISC THREE: Cosmic Dancer - T. Rex
DISC FOUR: Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan
DISC FIVE: Point Blank - Bruce Springsteen
DISC SIX: Isn’t It a Pity - George Harrison
DISC SEVEN: A Beautiful Day - Queen
DISC EIGHT: The Gypsy’s Wife - Leonard Cohen
BOOK CHOICE: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
LUXURY ITEM: Caviar
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Point Blank - Bruce Springsteen
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
Desert Island Discs has cast other photographers away to the island over the years including David Bailey, Sally Mann and Vanley Burke. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.
SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002rdcn)
Writer: Tim Stimpson
Director: Pip Swallow
Editor: Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer … Ben Norris
David Archer … Timothy Bentinck
Josh Archer … Angus Imrie
Pip Archer … Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
Amber Gordon … Olivia Bernstone
Emma Grundy … Emerald O'Hanrahan
George Grundy … Angus Stobie
Will Grundy … Philip Molloy
Chelsea Horrobin … Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell
Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly
Stella Pryor … Lucy Speed
Fallon Rogers … Joanna Van Kampen
SUN 12:15 The Archers Podcast (p0mtr7v0)
Whodunnit?
Emma Freud is joined by scriptwriter Tim Stimpson, Helen Longworth who plays Hannah Riley, and Dave Payne, the producer behind George's attack storyline. They explore the latest listener theories after this seismic week in Ambridge, and a surprise guest appears in the studio. .
Presenter: Emma Freud
Producer: Charlotte Davey
Email: thearcherspodcast@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: 08000 289 044
SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m002r3kn)
Series 96
2. I’ve never seen anything like it!
Subjects this week include if I were invisible for one hour, double denim and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Now which of these might include everyone speaking French?
Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Paul Merton, Cariad Lloyd, Rachel Parris, Paterson Joseph
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.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m002rdcq)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002rdcs)
How much have the continued allegations about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor damaged the Royal Family?
The biographer Andrew Lownie, the journalist Emily Maitlis, the Queen's friend Baroness Kennedy and King Charles's former head of communications Julian Payne discuss the problems faced by the institution, and chart potential paths from its current difficulties.
SUN 13:30 Currently (m002rdcv)
Beyond the Feed: Muslim Women and the Dawah Bros
Influencers preaching a message to young Muslims are becoming more and more popular as men look to the online world for spiritual guidance.
Collectively referred to as 'Dawah Bros', they have millions of followers, spreading messages about the role of women, but the opposition to their traditional ideas is strong and vocal. Young Muslim women are fighting back; they say these online preachers threaten progress for women and girls.
Traditional Imams are forced to compete with this latest wave of content and have questioned the scholarly credentials of these online preachers. But their followers argue that they are simply voicing concerns already present in communities about expectations, the erosion of Islamic principles and moral behaviour.
As online debates become more polarised, finding common ground can feel impossible.
This search for an online space is about more than just belonging; it's tied to finding a sense of safety in an environment that young Muslims often associate with hostility and Islamophobia. The growing appeal of the manosphere means that the debate about what constitutes manhood is universal - not least among young Muslim men.
As young Muslims navigate this online world and its offline aftermath, why is this type of content resonating and what happens when Muslim women speak out?
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002r4y3)
Tyne Valley
Kathy Clugston and the GQT team are in Tyne Valley, Newcastle.
Kathy's joined by Dr Chris Thorogood, Bethan Collerton and Matthew Wilson, who tackle a variety of questions from troubled Aspidistra, yellowing Choisya and planting for winter colour. The team also discusses beech hedges, how to tackle the issue of invasive Japanese knotweed and unlikely exotics thriving in northern gardens.
Later in the show, Bunny Guinness enlightens us on the benefits and use cases of grow lights within greenhouses.
Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Suhaar Ali
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
To view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time and open this week's episode page.
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002rdcx)
Gone with the Wind - Episode 2
In the series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work, John Yorke continues his exploration of Margaret Mitchell’s epic Civil War romance, Gone with the Wind.
In the 90 years since it was published it has sold more than 30 million copies – it was the bestselling American novel of the 20th century - but the book has become increasingly problematic for modern readers.
In this second episode, John considers how the history of the American Civil War and its aftermath inform the way the story is told. And he asks how we should address Margaret Mitchell’s shockingly complacent attitude to slaveholding and the racist language in the book.
John is joined by Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London and the author of The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells; Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford; and Rachel Joyce, who has adapted Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4. Together they explore the racism that underlies the story and the difficulties of navigating Mitchell’s attitude to her black characters.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for Radio 4.
Contributors:
Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of London
Rachel Joyce, adapter of Gone with the Wind for BBC Radio 4
Dr Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Literature and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford
Reading by Samantha Dakin
Credits: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, published by Vintage Books
Produced by Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Sound by Sean Kerwin
Researcher: Henry Tydeman
Production hub coordinator: Dawn Williams
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m002rdcz)
Gone with the Wind: Episode 2
A new dramatisation of Margaret Mitchell’s famous and contested novel, set against the epic backdrop of the American Civil War and the collapse of the old Southern order, and centred on the fiercely determined Scarlett O’Hara.
Part of The Story of America, a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States. This three-part drama revisits a foundational American story with fresh eyes.
An iconic and stunning tale of love and loss, of a nation divided and a people forever changed.
Episode Two: Atlanta has gone up in flames and Scarlett anxiously waits to see if Rhett can help them escape back to Tara.
Scarlett ..... Samantha Dakin
Rhett ..... Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Ashley ..... Joseph May
Melanie ..... Rebekah Murrell
Prissy ..... Madeline Charlemagne
Gerald ..... Sam Dale
Suellen ..... Clare Corbett
Pork ..... Richard Pepple
Sam ..... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Frank Kennedy ..... Finlay Robertson
And the Narrator and Mary ..... Clare Perkins
Directed by Tracey Neale
Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.
Set against the epic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning Gone with the Wind remains an iconic and stunning tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. It was an instant best seller and has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide: the screen adaptation of 1939 became the world’s biggest box office selling film. As recently as 2014 it was voted the most popular book in America after the Bible and The New York Times describes it as ‘Beyond a doubt one of the most remarkable first novels produced by an American writer. It is also one of the best.’
The famous story of the trials of feisty, once-spoiled Scarlett O’Hara as she struggles to adapt to the shattering of her world is both an epic adventure and one of literature’s greatest romances. It is about people who fight to the end for their dreams. But it is also about what happens when dreams die. How do you rebuild a life when your world is blasted into rubble? How do you bring lasting peace to a nation that is fundamentally conflicted? What does freedom mean and what does it look like when everything you knew is gone and everyone you loved is dead?
‘War is men’s business, not ladies,’ the young men of the novel tell themselves as they prepare for battle. And yet Gone with the Wind gives us a young heroine whose spirit and ability to survive outstrips the male world around her. It reminds us that the repercussions of civil war continue to be felt for generations: the past has consequences in the present. This is a major retelling of a story that remains at the heart of the American experience.
Dramatist:
Rachel Joyce is a best-selling author and award winning audio drama writer. Her first novel, The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry has been adapted for both film and stage. Rachel adapted all of the Brontë canon for Radio 4. Her latest novel, The Homemade God, was published in February.
Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
Dramatist: Rachel Joyce
Script Consultant: Beverly Andrews
Sound Design: Keith Graham, Peter Ringrose, Sam Dickinson and Cole Colbert
Production Co-Ordinator: Luke MacGregor and Amy Woods
SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m002rdd1)
Jennifer Niven
American author Jennifer Niven joins Take Four Books to discuss 'Meet the Newmans', her brand new novel that follows the lives of America’s favourite television family in 1964. On screen, they present flawless versions of themselves, but away from the cameras the truth could not be further from perfect.
During the episode, Jennifer discusses the three works that inspired her new book: 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus (2022); 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017); and 'In Search of Donna Reed' by Jay Fultz (1998).
Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production.
SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m002rdd3)
Series 39
Heat 7, 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 ‘The Great American Songbook In The 21st Century', 'Heroes Of Prog Rock' and 'Pop And Rock Dance Routines'.
Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74qz)
The discovery of the coelacanth
In 1938, South African museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered a coelacanth, a fish that was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years.
It is thought to be our ancestor and the missing link between how fish evolved into four-legged amphibians.
This was produced and presented by Rachel Naylor, in collaboration with BBC Archives.
Eyewitness 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.
SUN 17:10 The Verb (m002rdd6)
Richard Dawson, Jacob Polley, Sarah Howe, Frank Cottrell Boyce on John Carey
Ian McMillan's guests this week are the singer and songwriter Richard Dawson, T.S. Eliot prize winning poets Jacob Polley and Sarah Howe and Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell Boyce - who celebrates Professor John Carey and the art of poetry criticism.
Richard Dawson and Jacob Polley light up the past and make the future of energy and community life seem more real - by bringing their different sensibilities to 'Ancestral Reverb' - an album created by north east organisation 'Threads in the Ground' (directed by Adam Cooper). 'Ancestral Reverb' contains music spanning over 100 years, and the words of those connected to coal. DJ and producer Bert Verso sampled historic music for this album, and wove it through with his own new compositions. The records are embedded with fragments of coal. Richard Dawson's latest album is 'End of the Middle' and Jacob Polley's 'Hymn to Water' can be heard on BBC Sounds (www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002mw7t)
Sarah Howe's new book is 'Loop of Jade' which beautifully takes on threads from her T.S. Eliot prize winning collection 'Loop of Jade'. Sarah explores a 'Neon Line' for us from the work of the American 20th century poet Elizabeth Bishop - a stand-out line that lets us into a poem. Sarah tells us about the power of the messy first draft, and where it can lead a poet.
Children's Laureate, novelist and writer of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony - Frank Cottrell Boyce celebrates the wit, generosity, and pithy opening sentences of Professor John Carey, whose distinctive voice as teacher, critic and broadcaster led so many into a deep engagement with poetry.
Presented by Ian McMillan
Produced by Faith Lawrence
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002rdd8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m002rddb)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rddd)
Sir Vince Cable calls for probe into Andrew claims
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, has described the alleged actions of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor while he was a trade envoy as being "totally unacceptable". Sir Vince -- who was business secretary for some of that time -- has called on the police and the government to look into claims the former prince shared confidential information with the sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied wrongdoing. Iran's deputy foreign minister has told the BBC that Tehran is ready to consider compromises to reach a nuclear deal with the US -- if the Americans are willing to discuss lifting sanctions. Team GB have won their first ever gold medal on snow at the Winter Olympics.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002rddg)
Julie Hesmondhalgh
This week, love is in the air, with some powerful poetry on the subject from The Verb, and there’s no love lost from one young disgruntled viewer of a 1960s BBC adaptation of Wuthering Heights, as Greg James finds out. Meanwhile, Christopher Eccleston finds out if schools are falling out of love with drama as a subject. Plus, a riotous Loose Ends ensues on Radio 4 with actor Melvyn Hayes with raucous company, and we hear the extraordinary story of a prison inmate becoming a Parkrunner.
Presenter: Julie Hesmondhalgh
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production coordinators: Caroline Peddle and Minnie Harrop
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002rddj)
At the Rewilding, Alice is impressed by how the beavers have already reduced the risk of flooding downstream on the Am. Alice takes photographs for Phoebe before circuitously asking Rex if he did anything for Valentine’s Day. Rex, though, is worried about his taxi licence renewal after a drunken fare made a complaint about Rex “stealing” an expensive watch he left in Rex’s cab. Unless Rex can prove the man’s suspicions are groundless, that could be it for him as a cabbie. Alice suggests checking if the watch was handed in at any of the pubs and bars the man drank at before getting in Rex’s cab, offering to split the task if they go on Tuesday. Rex agrees.
Alice confides in Ruairi that she’s debating whether or not to ask out someone she fancies, before noting Ruairi is more subdued than usual. Ruairi denies this and heads off to Berrow Farm, where Neil lets Hannah know that Ruairi is starting as a trainee. It’s all very last minute, Martyn having told Neil that Brian wants Ruairi to get more hands-on farming experience. Hannah is unimpressed, what they need is a skilled worker, not a complete novice. Neil agrees, but they’ve got no choice in the matter. Ruairi then listens carefully while Neil and Hannah outline the seriousness of the responsibilities Ruairi will be taking on and the necessity of avoiding contamination. Later, while Neil starts showing Ruairi what to do, Ruairi gets distracted, then slips and falls in the muck. Hannah can’t see him lasting a week.
SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002rddl)
A Lemur’s Song
The Indri lemur, also known as the singing lemur, can be found only in Madagascar’s rainforests. Famous for their eerie, melodic calls, they are one of the few primates that sing and, as it turns out, they have a surprising relationship to rhythm - one that’s very similar to our own.
After hearing news of these unlikely rhythmic capabilities, Georgie Styles ventures into one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems on Earth to capture the haunting songs of this critically endangered species, as they echo through the treetops. But as she goes deeper into this tale of survival and song, she discovers a hidden female history.
So what can the Indri lemur tell us about the origins of music?
Providing us with the first-ever evidence of complex vocal abilities that exceed those of any other mammal, besides humans, the Indri reveals clues to our own evolutionary journey and offers us a rarely told perspective.
With contributions from primatologist and conservationist, Dr Sylviane Volampeno, primatologist Dr Chiara De Gregorio, researcher Irene Marchesi and a team of Madagascan research guides, A Lemur’s Song connects nature’s melodies to the evolution of music. Through the captivating sounds of Madagascar’s rainforests, the Indris songs and the creative responses of an original score by music artist and saxophonist Laura Misch, Georgie reflects on what sounds can tell us about our world and what we are at risk of losing.
A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m000wc07)
Take a Breath
In this episode, Michael reveals how slowing down and focusing on your breath can have a wide-reaching effect on your body and brain - from reducing pain, to improving concentration. He speaks to psychologist and neuroscientist Professor Ian Robertson, Trinity College Dublin, who’s discovered how spending just a couple of seconds to control your breath can act as a powerful reset button for your brain.
SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m002r4vw)
Tourette Syndrome
Michael Rosen talks to Ione Georgakis from Tourette Action about about her personal and professional experience of Tourette Syndrome and vocal tics. How and why do tics happen, and what are some of the myths and misunderstandings around the syndrome?
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 (m002r4y7)
Meredith Hooper, David Young, Dorothy Solomon, Derek Kelly
Matthew Bannister on:
Meredith Hooper, the prolific author who wrote several books about Antarctica. We have a tribute from her son, the Oscar winning film director Tom Hooper.
David Young, the American lawyer who was in charge of a team known as “The Plumbers” who tried to stop leaks of sensitive information from the Nixon White House.
Dorothy Solomon, the manager and agent who steered the careers of The Dubliners, The Bachelors and many other stars of the 1960s and 70s. Sharon Osbourne pays tribute.
Derek Kelly, the Essex farmer who revived the fortunes of the Bronze turkey - with a little help from Delia Smith.
Interviewee: Tom Hooper
Interviewee: Suannah Young
Interviewee: Giles Alston
Interviewee: Sharon Osbourne
Interviewee: Dec Cluskey
Interviewee: Paul Kelly
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell
Researcher: Jesse Edwards
Editor: Glyn Tansley
Archive used:
Meredith Hooper interview, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4, 20/08/2007; Meredith Hooper interview, Excess Baggage, BBC Radio 4, 04/02/2012; Tom Hooper, Best Director announcement and acceptance speech, OSCARS, 03/03/2011; Daniel Ellsberg interview, 1971 press conference, BBC Archive Facebook channel, uploaded 05/04/2016; Watergate Special News Report, CBS News, 04/11/1973; Derek Kelly, Delia Smith’s Christmas, BBC TWO, 22/11/1990;
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002rd98)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rdc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002rd94)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:30 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002rddn)
How will Keir Starmer reset his government?
Nick Eardly is joined by the Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, Conservative Sir Alec Shelbrooke and Siân Berry from the Green Party. They discuss defence spending following Sir Keir Starmer's warning that the UK must be "ready to fight" for its values and future. They also talk about recent domestic political turmoil and look ahead to the crucial by-election in Gorton and Denton. The Guardian's Whitehall editor Rowen Mason brings additional expert analysis.
SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002r4v1)
The Code of Hammurabi
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the laws that Hammurabi (c1810 - c1750 BC), King of Babylon, had carved into a black basalt pillar in present day Iraq and which, since its rediscovery in 1901 in present day Iran, has affirmed Hammurabi's reputation as one of the first great lawmakers. Visitors to the Louvre in Paris can see it on display with almost 300 rules in cuneiform, covering anything from ‘an eye for an eye’ to how to handle murder, divorce, witchcraft, false accusations and more. The Code of Hammurabi, as it became known, made such an impression in Mesopotamia that it was copied and shared for a millennium after his death and, since its reemergence, Hammurabi and his Code have been commemorated in the US Capitol and the International Court of Justice.
With
Martin Worthington
Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College Dublin
Frances Reynolds
Shillito Fellow and Associate Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at The Queen’s College
And
Selena Wisnom
Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Zainab Bahrani, Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture (Thames and Hudson, 2017)
Dominique Charpin, Hammurabi of Babylon (I.B. Tauris, 2021)
Prudence O. Harper, Joan Aruz and Françoise Tallon, The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures from the Louvre (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992)
J. Nicholas Postgate (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern (British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), especially ‘Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian’ by Andrew R. George
Martha T. Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (2nd edition, Scholars Press, 1997)
Marc Van De Mieroop, King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography (Wiley, 2005)
Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC (4th edition (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006)
Selena Wisnom, The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (Allen Lane, 2025)
Martin Worthington, Complete Babylonian: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Babylonian with Original Texts (Teach Yourself Library, 2012)
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.
SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002r4y5)
Hearts in Lattes
In writer Allan Radcliffe's alternative take on love and relationships, Maggie and Ellie meet on Valentine's Day in an attempt to build a relationship after being semi-estranged for years.
Allan Radcliffe is a multi-award winning Scottish author, arts journalist and editor, and is currently a freelance theatre critic and feature writer. His short stories have been published in anthologies including Out There, The Best Gay Short Stories and New Writing Scotland. After the resounding success of his debut novel 'The Old Haunts', his new novel, 'Blurred Faces', was published by Fairlight in November 2025.
'Hearts in Lattes' is read by Gabriel Quigley and produced by Bethany Woodhead. It is a BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2026
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002rddq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 00:15 Soul Music (m002pf0l)
Porcelain by Moby
A song that was everywhere after it was released as a single in 2000. Moby's Porcelain has been used in films, TV and adverts yet remains a much loved melancholic downbeat electronic ballad. Reportedly written about the fragility of love after a break up it's a track that has a place in many people's hearts.
The people featured are:
Felicia Narhi aka DJ Damselfly
Steve O'Brien
Gyu
Ola Mazzuca
John E Roy
Michael Weinhardt
Producer: Maggie Ayre
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002rdbq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rdds)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rddv)
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 (m002rddx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:04 Last Word (m002r4y7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Sunday]
MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rddz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rdf1)
Oneness
Good Morning.
I was recently asked to give a talk about Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first of the Sikh Gurus.
There is so much to say about Guru Nanak yet his message was very simple.
However, the simplicity of it was quite revolutionary at the time - in the 15th century - a time in India of many conflicts, battles and unrest between people, communities, cultures and traditions.
Fast-forward six centuries, and the Guru’s message is still as relevant and perhaps revolutionary today - as we are witnessing so much unrest, polarisation and conflict globally.
Guru Nanak’s key message was expressed in the words Ik OanKar.
Ik literally means One and Oneness.
Ik OanKar means the One extended into all of creation. There is no real separation from God who breathes life into everything and this also means no separation from each other as we all come from the same source and the same divine breath of life.
Guru Nanak also taught about the universal principle of “Nirvair” which means “no enemy.”
The Guru spoke of how the idea of an “enemy” is an illusion constructed by the mind when we are not connected to the true reality of Oneness.
But when connected, everyone becomes our friend and we act towards others in friendliness.
My prayer is that we can release ourselves from false or limiting beliefs that turn the mind into a prison. Instead, may we remember to breathe more deeply, coming down from the head into the Mansion of the Divine within our heart, to know the One that resides within ourself and connects us to the One in everyone. Sat Naam
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002rdf3)
Fields of yellow, vets and artificial intelligence, vet shortage
There'll be a bigger splash of bright yellow across the countryside later in the spring, at least compared to last year. Signs are that, after a 40 year low in planting, Oilseed Rape is starting to come back into favour with farmers. Many had moved away from it because of pest problems, the chemical used to combat the Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle was banned in the UK in 2010. Low prices for other crops have made oilseed rape a more appealing prospect.
Our subject for the week is farm vets. The UK is short of vets who want to work on farms and indeed those who want to work in the Government's animal health services, where the vacancy rate is about 25%. With the University of Cambridge considering closing its vet course and a survey last year suggesting that more than 40 per cent of farm vets have considered leaving their jobs: what's the future? Charlotte Smith discusses the reasons for a shortage of vets, and what could be done about it, with the president of the British Veterinary Association.
We also hear from a panel of experts discussing the potential risks and benefits of Artificial Intelligence for vets and farmers.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
MON 05:57 Weather (m002rdf5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers
MON 06:00 Today (m002rdnd)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002rdng)
Breakage and repair
When society, financial systems and human beings fall short, how can we repair the damage? Tom Sutcliffe hosts Radio 4's discussion programme which starts the week, exploring the social, moral and political contradictions of the world we face today, with US novelist George Saunders, Turkish writer Ece Temulkuran and investigative journalist Oliver Bullough,
The Booker Prize winning novelist, George Saunders new book Vigil deals with the moral ambivalence of a greedy oil executive; the death bed reckoning of a man who resists facing his life and legacy.
The Turkish writer, Ece Temulkuran's new book Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding a Home in the 21st Century explores the rising global displacement of people who will need to forge stronger connections amid political and social upheaval.
In an investigation of money laundering, Oliver Bullough's Everybody Loves Our Dollars sets out the scale of the problem and why we are failing to tackle the global systems that allow illicit money to move freely using sites as varied as Bicester Shopping Village in Oxfordshire and a casino in Vancouver, Canada.
Producer: Ruth Watts
MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002rdnj)
Garden therapy
Dr Susan Taheri, an NHS GP and creator of the Growing Well Garden, tells Rachel Burden how the project is supporting both her own and her patients' wellbeing. The space is used in a variety of ways including drop-in sessions and nature based activities.
Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell us what they're doing to make things better in big and small ways. Think of us as sitting in your local café, cooking up plans, hearing the gossip and celebrating the people making the world a better place.
We're all about trying to make change. It might be a transformational project that helps an entire community or it might be about trying to make one life a little easier. And the key here is in the trying. Not everything works, and there are struggles along the way. But it's always worth a go.
You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Rachel Burden
Series Producer: Jill Collins
Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Clare Fordham
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rdnl)
Nadiya Hussain, Actor Kate Fleetwood, 200 marathons in 200 days
It’s more than a decade since Nadiya Hussain became a household name after winning the Great British Bake Off. Since then, she’s fronted her own cookery shows, written more than a dozen cookbooks and a series of children’s books. Her latest collection of recipes is called Quick Comforts, and Nadiya joins presenter Clare McDonnell to talk about finding comfort in food, her career so far and lots more.
A series of stories in The Guardian this week are spotlighting the role that domestic abuse plays in suicides - they say the number of women's suicides that are being are linked to domestic abuse is being severely underreported in police statistics. Figures from the National Police Chiefs Council's Domestic Homicide Project have shown for the last two years that there were more victims of domestic abuse who took their own lives in England and Wales than were killed by their partner. Research by a suicide prevention programme in Kent led by Tim Woodhouse is suggesting the figures could be much higher. We hear from Tim and Dr Hannana Siddiqui, Director of Policy, Campaigns and Research at Southall Black Sisters.
Actor Kate Fleetwood talks about her latest role as the angry, vindictive Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s fairy tale musical Into the Woods. She’ll be singing live and telling Clare about playing the villain, the challenges of this demanding singing role and why Shakespeare holds an important part of her life.
Megan Boxall is running the coastline of Britain, hoping to complete 200 marathons in 200 days. She joins us live from the Scottish Highlands - the latest stage of her challenge - to update us on her progress so far and the people she has met along the way.
Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
MON 11:00 Toxic! (m002rdnn)
A Recipe for Disaster?
The foods we eat, the water we drink, the products we coat our faces in, and even the clothes on our backs all contain tiny, invisible chemicals that most of us trust without a second thought. But should we? Are these substances actually safe? Are they lingering inside our bodies and, if so, what does this mean for our health?
In this first episode of Toxic!, materials scientist Mark Miodownik explores the far-reaching and unsettling world of PFAS – so-called ‘forever chemicals’, named for their stubborn tendency to persist in the environment for… well… almost forever. Speaking to expert scientists, Mark discovers just how fantastically useful this vast family of chemicals is, while also confronting the more sinister and mounting evidence around their short- and long-term health implications.
Joined by his friend and colleague, leading PFAS expert Dave Megson, Mark brings the investigation into his kitchen and cooks lunch. From fish to frying pans to dishwasher tablets, he uncovers the surprising places that PFAS are lurking in our everyday lives. And finally – for a dose of optimism – he explores the exciting new science that might one day help us flush the PFAS out of our bodies more quickly.
Series Producer: Mel Brown
Researcher: Alex Rodway
A BBC Studios Production
MON 11:45 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdnr)
Episode 1: Being an immigrant
In a series of five essays, award-winning novelist Leïla Slimani reflects on otherness. From her arrival in Paris as an immigrant from Morocco to her experience of motherhood, it’s an exploration that is central to her identity and writing. She examines the wide-ranging influence of the theme on her life, her thinking and her engagement with the world.
In the first essay, Leïla recalls the experience of arriving in Paris as a young woman from Morocco, where she faced the expectation of assimilating to French society and losing her identity. She questions the choices she is forced to make between French and Moroccan culture, and finds inspiration in her own family history as she searches for solutions to a dilemma.
Leïla Silmani was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, in 2016 for her novel Lullaby. Her other novels include The Country of Others and Adèle.
Presenter: Leïla Slimani
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Sara Davies
Sound Engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:00 News Summary (m002rdnv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002rdnx)
Student loans, Wellness weekends, Roblox
There are widespread calls for 'Plan 2' loans to be reformed, as former students tell us they're unaffordable. It's because of the interest being charged on them, and the freezing of thresholds at which they need to start being repaid.
Should 17-year-olds be subject to restrictions on how much they can spend on online gaming services?
And do we just buy vegetable boxes when times are good?
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: JAMES WICKHAM
MON 12:57 Weather (m002rdnz)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m002rdp1)
The Prime Minister argues for more defence spending
We speak to one of the authors of last year's strategic defence review. Also on The World at One, 36 universities face legal action from more than 170,000 graduates who claim they did not receive what they paid for during the pandemic. And, we’ll hear praise for the paperback as publishers pull back on printing them.
MON 13:45 Shadow World (m002rdp3)
Impulsive
1. Warning Signs
When Freddie’s dad Bill is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his medication gives him a new lease of life. He starts ticking things off his retiree bucket list - travelling, skydiving, golf.
But then Freddie notices that his previously sensible father has started behaving unusually.
BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has spent more than a year speaking to people whose behaviour changed radically after taking a category of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists.
These drugs boost dopamine activity in the brain - they were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK last year to treat Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
But they have well established side effects - around 1 in 6 people who take them develop impulse control disorders, which can include hypersexuality, binge eating, compulsive gambling and shopping.
If these side effects have been known about for decades, why weren’t some patients and their families properly warned or monitored?
Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.
Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A BBC News Long Form Audio production
MON 14:00 The Archers (m002rddj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Relativity (m001c6wr)
Series 4
Episode 4
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 4
A family Zoom call to support Ian pre operations leads to lots of dodgy one ball jokes from Nick, Mark and Holly. Ken makes an extraordinary offer to the family’s hilarity. Jane comes to the rescue so Chloe can take a big filming job. And Margaret overhears a very private conversation.
Cast:
Ken ..... Phil Davis
Margaret ..... Alison Steadman
Ian ..... Richard Herring
Chloe ..... Emily Berrington
Jane ..... Fenella Woolgar
Pete ..... Gordon Kennedy
Mark ..... Fred Haig
Holly ..... Tia Bannon
Nick ..... Harrison Knights
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 (m002rdcx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Sunday]
MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002rdp5)
Maria Balshaw and Léa Ypi
This week's books are:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler chosen by Maria Balshaw.
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol (translated by Isabel Hapgood) chosen by Léa Ypi.
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans chosen by Harriett Gilbert.
The producer is Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol.
Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
Photo credit: Erdem Moralioglu
MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002rd8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Saturday]
MON 16:00 Currently (m002rdcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
MON 16:30 Rewinder (m002rd90)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
MON 17:00 PM (m002rdp7)
Government abandons plans to delay local elections
We get reaction from Reform UK's Robert Jenrick as a planned legal challenge by the party has led the government to abandon its plans to delay 30 council elections. We'll bring you a report on the dire situation in Cuba as the country begins to run out of fuel, and we hear how a talent identification campaign by UK Sport delivered Winter Olympic gold.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rdp9)
The government abandons plans to delay 30 council elections in England
The government has abandoned plans to postpone local elections across 30 councils in England this May. Also: 36 universities may face paying compensation to students whose teaching was affected by Covid. And one of the greatest US actors of his generation, Robert Duvall, has died.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002rd1t)
Series 96
3. Do I need to repeat myself?
Players take on subjects including: the last time I received a compliment, if I were on Dragons' Den and Anne Boleyn. Finally a member of the royal family that Gyles doesn't know personally. Plus Josie starts a sing song with the audience.
Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Josie Lawrence, Gyles Brandreth, Emma Sidi, Desiree Burch
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 (m002rdpc)
Akram is delighted to be gifted a packet of seeds by birthday boy Tony, who explains he’s giving the same to everyone in the village, rather than receiving presents he doesn’t need. Tom hopes it will encourage some guerilla gardening, before sending Akram off to work in the packing shed. Later, Tom finds Akram trialling a new system for packing the veg boxes, but it ends up taking far longer than the usual system. Akram apologises, then admits he’d much prefer doing outdoor work, including all the muckiest jobs.
Stella suggests Pip is distracting herself with work to stop thinking about the rift with Josh over the inheritance. Pip admits it’s preying on her mind, before Stella changes subject to Ruairi starting at Berrow, comparing Brian’s rash decision-making to her current boss’s calmer approach. Stella’s looking forward to her brother Zach arriving in the run-up to Friday’s engagement party. Later, Pip is impressed when she finds Zach already installed at the Bungalow, having brought champagne, crisps and other treats, claiming they’re to ease Stella’s burden and celebrate Pip’s birthday. Zach teases Stella with an embarrassing memory, before Tony arrives with his gift of seeds, accepting a glass of champagne in return. When Pip and Rosie go home later, Zach punctures the sense of bonhomie by suggesting Stella might be settling for less than she should in backwater Ambridge, where everyone’s related to each other. Stella gets defensive and Zach backs down, saying he's happy for her, so long as she’s thought through the consequences.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m002rdpf)
Baz Luhrman on Elvis in concert, and 75 Years of The Archers
Baz Luhrman's newest film is recently rediscovered footage showing Elvis Presley, live in concert at the height of his fame. We speak with Baz about his continuing love for The King.
75 years of The Archers; Emma Freud and Archer's editor Jeremy Howe discuss the world's longest running soap opera and how the programme has dealt with the attack on George Grundy.
London's Royal Court Theatre is famous for productions that caused stir – Look Back in Anger, Saved, Blasted, The Rocky Horror Show. Its work may still be angry, but the theatre is no longer young, and its new director, David Byrne, has recently announced its 70th Anniversary Season. He talks to Samira Ahmed about his vision for this ‘writers’ theatre’, and its latest production, which might cause a stir, too - The Shitheads.
Peter Bradshaw reports from the Berlin Film Festival - what's good, what's not-so-good, and what's making headlines.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
MON 20:00 How Did We Get Here? (m002rdph)
Israel and the Palestinians
2: From the Muslim Conquest to the Nineteenth Century
The second of ten programmes examining the origins and tracing the history of the Middle East conflict takes the story from the Muslim conquest of the region in the Seventh Century AD through to the early Nineteenth Century. Presenter Jonny Dymond is joined by historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of ‘Jerusalem: The Biography’, and Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford University. They discuss the coming of Islam, the establishment of Arab rule, the significance of the Crusades, the Twelfth Century Muslim commander Salah ad-Din (Saladin) who fought the Crusaders , the persecution of Jews in the Diaspora in the Middle Ages and their relationship to the Holy Land, the Ottoman conquest of the Holy Land in the Sixteenth Century, and the nature of society there under Ottoman rule in the following centuries.
'How Did We Get Here? Israel and the Palestinians' is a BBC News Long Form Audio production.
The presenter is Jonny Dymond and the editor is Penny Murphy.
The Radio 4 commissioners are Hugh Levinson and Dan Clarke.
The studio engineers are Neil Churchill, James Beard, Rod Farquhar, Mike Regaard and David Crackles.
MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txz)
Will there be a city on the moon in ten years?
Elon Musk says his company Space X will focus on establishing a ‘self-growing city’ on the moon before going to Mars. Why the pivot? And what would it take to build a lunar metropolis? Victoria Gill speaks to head of space at the Science Museum Libby Jackson.
Can we stimulate the human brain to make humans more altruistic? Professor of neuroeconomics at the University of Zurich, Christian Ruff brings us the results of his experiments. And science journalist Caroline Steel brings us her selection of the most exciting new scientific discoveries this week.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Clare Salisbury, Kate White, Katie Tomsett
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002rdng)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002rdnj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rdpk)
Measles outbreak could see unvaccinated pupils excluded
Parents in north London have been told their children could be excluded from school if they are not fully vaccinated against measles amid an outbreak of the highly contagious disease. We find out what’s caused the latest outbreak.
Also in the programme: In an interview with the BBC, Hillary Clinton accuses the Trump administration of a cover-up over Jeffrey Epstein. And musician Patrick Darling, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), has returned to the stage after artificial intelligence (AI) gave him his voice back.
MON 22:45 James by Percival Everett (m002rdpm)
6: Passing
Rhashan Stone reads the winner of 2025's Pulitzer Prize by one of America's greatest contemporary authors.
Mississippi, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs. Hiding on nearby Jackson Island he tries to formulate a plan. But when his friend Huck Finn arrives with the news that he's faked his own death to escape his violent father, Jim knows he will be blamed. As so begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States and beyond.
Powerful, electrifying and brimming with the dark humour, this multi award-winning novel has already become a modern classic.
Today: after a close shave masquerading as a black man in the minstrals, Jim hatches a plan to make money by getting himself sold back into slavery...
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Writer: Percival Everett (born 1956) is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He is the Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams
MON 23:00 Limelight (m001gjnx)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall
Episode 5
By James Swallow
Dramatised by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Episode 5
A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher, and his daughter Sarah, are in a race against time to stop Brody Teague from executing his horrific plan to bring down two passenger aeroplanes. Will they succeed and save civilian lives?
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
Brody Teague ..... Will Poulter
Samir Patel ..... Nikesh Patel
Stone ..... Mihai Arsene
Eighteen ..... Olga Fedori
Portuguese announcer ..... Charis Jardim-Hinds
Reporter ..... Roger Ringrose
Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Directed by Lorna Newman
Series Co-Produced by Jessica Mitic, Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
MON 23:30 Artworks (m001jc78)
Roleplay
Peter Pan
One big dramatic role and stories of actors from across the world who have all played the same part. They tell us what the role means and what it means to them.
A new series for BBC Radio 4. This time, Peter Pan.
Featuring: Charlie Randall, Cathy Rigby, Hayley Mills, Tristan Sturrock, Hiran Abeysekera, Allison Kavey and Lester D. Friedman
We hear how the magic of playing Peter Pan has changed the lives of actors. The role lets performers explore their inner child, play with gender and fly across the stage.
But there is a dark side of being the boy who never grows up. Themes of loneliness, abandonment and death are core parts of JM Barrie’s story.
The reflections take us from panto in Great Yarmouth to civil war in Sri Lanka to arenas across the United States.
Produced by Sam Grist and Camellia Sinclair for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mixed by Ilse Lademann for BBC Audio in Bristol
Acknowledgements:
Peter Pan - BBC Sound Archive 30th Mar 1941
Producers - Derek McCulloch and Gordon Crier
Peter Pan - Patricia Hayes
Wendy - Rosamund Barnes
Music by John Crook
Peter Pan – Radio 4 26th Dec 1986
Producer – Glyn Dearman
Peter Pan - Graham McGrath
Wendy - Lucinda Bateson
Music by John Crook
Archive
The Lost Boys: J.M. Barrie - A Reminiscence - BBC Radio 4 - 6 October 1978
Woman’s Hour - BBC Radio 2 - 20 Dec 1967
An Appreciation of Sir James Barrie, by Nina Boucicault – BBC Sound Archive – 19 Jun 1937
Peter Pan Broadway Musical Theatre TV Commercial 1999
Blue Peter - BBC Archive - 10 Dec 1965
22nd Academy Award Ceremony – 23 Mar 1950
J.M.Barrie and Peter Pan – BBC Two 23 Dec 2001
TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2026
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002rdpp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 00:30 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rdpr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rdpt)
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 (m002rdpw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:04 Currently (m002rdcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rdpy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rdq0)
Random Acts of Kindness
Good Morning.
Today it’s the Random Acts of Kindness Day.
One pillar of the Sikh faith is “seva” which means selfless service - doing something without expectation of receiving anything in return.
There are many examples from the lives of the Sikh Gurus which can be extraordinary in terms of their level of service and sacrifice. And while these are very aspirational, I love to hear stories from ordinary people in these times who offer small acts of kindness that can also have a large impact.
Recently a story went viral about a Sikh postman in Australia. He was delivering a package to someone’s house and noticed that it was starting to rain. As the owner was out, seeing there were bedsheets on the washing line, he went into the garden, took the bedsheets down, carefully folded them and put them out of the rain.
The owner of the house arrived home to her parcel being delivered as expected, but then finding that an unexpected service had taken place. She later saw on her security camera system what had happened.
This story gives me such joy as it’s something very everyday in our lives - hanging out the washing but the heavens open and we aren’t home to take it in.
It’s also the case that in these times, if feels that life keeps getting busier, that time is moving faster and we can each feel under increased pressure to manage the tasks of our own day.
Dear God, as our hearts can be vast in their capacity to give, may we ask for our eyes, often busy or narrowly focused on our own business, to see more widely and notice things around us. I pray to remember that a small act of kindness can change someone’s day but also how it contributes to a much bigger service that keeps the heart of humanity ever expanding in its generosity.
Sat Naam
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002rdq2)
17/02/26 Dog attacks on livestock, a cattle vet at work, Hedgerow Heroes
Livestock worrying cost UK farmers nearly two million pounds last year, a ten percent increase on the year before. Farm insurers NFU Mutual, who published the figures, say that’s in spite of many pet owners believing their own dogs are incapable of injuring or killing farm animals.
This week we're exploring the role of the farm vet and today we're out on the round with a cattle vet in Wiltshire.
More than two hundred thousand new hedgerow trees are being planted this winter, as part of the Campaign To Protect Rural England's Hedgerow heroes Initiative. BBC South East Today's Chrissie Reidy went along to see planting at the Birling Estate in Kent.
Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Sarah Swadling
TUE 06:00 Today (m002rdq4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Intrigue (m002q871)
Ransom Man
5. 635 Years of Suffering
Within a month of the Vastaamo data breach, Tomi Haustola, a Finnish stand up comedian, is on stage making jokes about it.
But Tomi himself is one of the thousands of victims. He tells Jenny how he went to Vastaamo because he was burnt-out and anxious and couldn’t tell anyone - except his therapist.
When he discovers a hacker had stolen his therapy notes, Tomi decides to share his story with the audience. Many of them are victims themselves.
But he doesn’t expect a letter to arrive for him, years after the hack, inviting him to view the trial of Julius Kivimäki, the man authorities suspected of being the extortionist ransom_man.
Bringing the case against him is the Prosecutor Pasi Vainio.
Kivimäki is defended by the lawyer who has been with him since the beginning - Peter Jaari.
Also present is Jenni Raiskio, the lawyer representing victims of the hack, making sure they are not forgotten amidst the TV cameras and photographers.
As Jenny follows the unfolding of the court case and the trial nears its conclusion, something happens that puts everything in jeopardy.
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: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure.
A BBC Studios Production
Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams
Commissioner: Dan Clarke
TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m002rdq6)
What are the side effects of weight loss drugs?
Over 1.5million adults in the UK tried weight loss drugs in 2024-25. Many swear by them, but they have been associated with side effects including nausea and, in some cases, extremely painful gallstones. But what does the evidence actually tell us, and what is the wider impact on the way we view our bodies in society?
James Gallagher is joined by Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow Naveed Sattar, Dr Beverley O’Hara, Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition at Leeds Beckett University, and Dr Margaret McCartney, resident Inside Health GP. They discuss what the evidence tells us about the potential known side effects of these weight loss drugs, and the potential impact their use has on our view of obesity as a society. We also hear from Sarah Le Brocq, who has struggled with obesity all her adult life and has been on these drugs for the past 2-3 years about her experiences.
Margaret McCartney has no conflicts of interest to declare.
Beverley O’Hara has no conflicts of interest to declare. She has 2 roles with the Association for the Study of Obesity (voluntary academic positions).
Naveed Sattar has consulted for and/or received speaker honoraria from AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Carmot Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, Gan & Lee, GlaxoSmithKline, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Kailera, Mass Medicines, Menarini-Ricerche, Metsera, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, UCB Pharma, and Verdiva Bio; and received grant support paid to his University from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, and Roche.
Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Researcher: Tom Hunt
Production coordinator: Stuart Laws
Content Editor: Ilan Goodman
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rdq8)
Gisèle Pelicot memoir, Catrin Finch, Ice Hockey mixed teams
In December 2024, Dominque Pelicot and 46 other men were found guilty of the aggravated rape of his wife Gisèle. Another two were found guilty of attempted rape and a further two were found guilty of sexual assault. Dominque had drugged Gisèle with medication without her knowledge, raped her and invited other men to rape her, filming as they did so. At least another 20 men who took part in these rapes could not be identified. Waving her right to anonymity, Gisèle Pelicot declared that shame has to change sides. Despite her becoming a household name, not only in her native France but around the world, very little was known about Gisèle herself.
Today sees the publication of her much-anticipated memoir, A Hymn to Life. Nuala McGovern is joined by writer and journalist Judith Perrignon, who co-wrote the memoir with Gisèle, and Professor Manon Garcia, who watched the trial in Avignon and analysed its resonance in her book Living with Men, Reflections on the Pelicot Trial.
The award-winning internationally renowned Welsh harpist and composer Catrin Finch first came to prominence in her early 20s as the official Royal Harpist to King Charles, the-then Prince of Wales. She achieved chart success with her No. 1 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Catrin, who began playing the harp at just six years old, has a new album, Notes to Self, a series of reflective and deeply personal new tracks she has composed for Katy, her 13-year-old-self. She tells Nuala about her first album of solo compositions in a decade.
One of the children talking about their everyday achievements in our new podcast, SEND in the Spotlight, which features young people with special educational needs, is Henry. He's autistic, and school is not always easy. Things got even tougher when his grandma died. That's when Henry decided to raise money for the hospice which looked after her. We hear his story in his own words.
With the Winter Olympics in full swing in Italy, how are sports like ice hockey faring here in the UK? And what are women doing on the ice rink? Joining Nuala are Ellie Wakeling and Abbie Sylvester, who both play alongside male players with the Romford Buccaneers.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Andrea Kidd
TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m002r4yk)
Rick Wakeman and Aoife Ní Bhriain launch the new series
Irish classical and folk violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and keyboard player Rick Wakeman are Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe's first guests as they begin a brand new series. Valentine's Day vibes are in the air so expect a bit of love as we embark on a new playlist, taking us from a sweet disco classic to a precocious pop/country megastar via Thor and Mozart.
Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
[03'55] Love is in the Air by John Paul Young
[11'07] Love’s Dream by Rick Wakeman ft Roger Daltrey
[18'40] Thor: Ragnarok by Mark Mothersbaugh
[25'45] Allegro moderato from Violin Concerto No 1 in B-flat Major by Mozart
[33'40] The Outside by Taylor Swift
Other music in this episode:
Berghain by Rosalía ft Björk
Whip it by DEVO
Arena Fight by Mark Mothersbaugh
TUE 11:45 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdqb)
Episode 2: Imagining others
In a series of five essays, award-winning novelist Leïla Slimani reflects on otherness. From her arrival in Paris as an immigrant from Morocco to her experience of motherhood, it’s an exploration that is central to her identity and writing. She examines the wide-ranging influence of the theme on her life, her thinking and her engagement with the world.
In the second essay, Leïla reflects on her fascination as a writer with others. It’s a passion that she traces to her mother’s empathy as a doctor for her patients. All her writing investigates the tension between being an individual and the desire to belong, exploring multiple perspectives and identities. Literature not only offers a path to understanding other people’s experiences, it can also be a stand against dogmatism.
Leïla Slimani was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, in 2016 for her novel Lullaby. Her other novels include The Country of Others and Adèle.
Presenter: Leïla Slimani
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Sara Davies
Sound Engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002rdqd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002rdqg)
Call You and Yours: Is time online, time well spent?
If you spend time online, is it time well spent?
The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, says the government will tighten the rules around how teenagers use social media — and he’s ‘open‑minded’ about an Australian‑style ban for under‑16s.
But it isn't just children whose time disappears scrolling through videos.
Doom scrolling, addictive algorithms, over sexualised AI chatbots are all under scrutiny as the PM says he's ready for a fight with the big tech firms... to "crack down" on addiction, and stop what he calls "the never ending scrolling that keeps children hooked on their screens for hours".
So is your time online well spent, or are you and your family trying to cut back?
Get in touch now - email youandyours@bbc.co.uk and please include a phone number so we can call you back. You can also call us on 03700 100 444 after
11am on Tuesday 17th February.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LINDA WALKER
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: ETHAN SIMPKIN
TUE 12:57 Weather (m002rdqj)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m002rdql)
Unemployment hits a five-year high
The picture is particularly bad for young people- we discuss with two national employers. Also on The World at One, the Civil Rights Icon Jesse Jackson has died. We'll look back at his remarkable life. And, as both Ramadan and Lent begin, the Archbishop of Westminster and the first female head of the Muslim Council of Britain join us to discuss the significance to their communities.
TUE 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvxy)
Impulsive
2. Wonder drugs
Not long after his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, Steve starts chatting to camgirls online. But soon he’s going on the sites every night, even logging on while his wife’s asleep next to him in bed. How long can he keep it a secret?
Steve’s one of more than 200 people who contacted BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge about their experiences of side effects caused by dopamine agonist drugs.
When medications turn out to have life-changing side effects, how do we balance the benefits with the risks?
Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.
Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A BBC News Long Form Audio production
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m002rdpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m002r78h)
Series 4
3. Diagnosis
by Frances Poet with monologues by Eileen Horne.
Part Three – Diagnosis
Dr Alex Bridges is an expert forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, assessing and treating perpetrators of serious crime.
Kathleen's unpredictable behaviour in the secure unit is becoming a cause for concern.
Dr Alex Bridges ….. Lolita Chakrabarti
Kathleen ….. Maureen Beattie
Lindsay ….. Helen Mackay
Abi ….. Anna Russell-Martin
Daniel ….. Nicholas Karimi
Sandra ….. Lucianne McEvoy
Lewis ….. Lee Hughes
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 by Kirsty Williams and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane
You’ll find details of help and support with dementia related issues at bbc.co.uk/actionline
TUE 15:00 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m002pqry)
Series 4
60. True Crime on Trial
In the final episode of the series, Lucy Worsley puts true crime itself on trial. Why are we so fascinated by stories of murder, violence, and scandal and was it ever thus? Is true crime guilty of sensationalism and stereotyping, or can it reveal something more profound about society, culture, and ourselves?
Lucy is joined by her all-female team of detectives, in-house historian Professor Rosalind Crone and guest detective Hannah Maguire, co-host of the hit podcast RedHanded. Together they examine the long history of true crime as entertainment, asking whether today’s podcasts, documentaries, and social media sleuthing are really so different from the pamphlets, broadsides, waxworks, and tabloid stories of the past.
The episode revisits three notorious cases. Martha Brown, executed in 1856 for killing her abusive husband, whose fate drew public sympathy and inspired Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Mary Pearcy, convicted in 1890 of the brutal murder of her lover’s wife and baby, whose trial and execution became a Victorian media sensation. And Elvira Barney, the glamorous socialite who in 1932 shot her lover and walked free, the tabloids feasting on every detail of her privileged world.
Through these stories, Lucy, Ros and Hannah explore how women have been represented in true crime narratives, and how gendered assumptions about violence and morality have shaped the way female offenders are portrayed. They also consider why audiences, past and present, are drawn to these tales, and whether our hunger for crime stories reflects fear, fascination, or the thrill of playing detective from the safety of our own homes.
Producer: Riham Moussa
Readers: Clare Corbett, Moya Angela, 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 (m002rdqp)
Gentrification in Detroit and London
What do we learn when a city’s future is defined not by rapid change, but by who leaves and who stays? Laurie Taylor looks at two neighbourhoods in different countries, during different periods in history and explores the human cost of gentrification - and what happens when the project fails.
Sharon Cornelissen (sociologist and Director of Housing at the Consumer Federation of America) discusses her latest book, "The Last House on the Block - Black Homeowners, White Homesteaders, and Failed Gentrification in Detroit', her study of Detroit’s Brightmoor neighbourhood. After living as a homeowner in Brightmoor for several years, Cornelissen argues that American cities should look more closely at depopulation and disinvestment because she experienced firsthand what it is like to live somewhere with a very small population and a distinct lack of both public and private investment.
In his new book, "Songs of Seven Dials - an Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London", Matt Houlbrook (Professor of Cultural History at the University of Birmingham) writes about the history of the central London district in the interwar years through the story of a 1927 libel trial involving a Sierra Leonean café owner and a nationalist newspaper. Through this personal story, he reveals the tensions around race, class and “improvement” that shaped the area’s future. Seven Dials near Covent Garden emerges as a place where business interests collide with local residents and where money and influence win out over the rights of individuals — early examples of the pressures now associated with gentrification a century later.
Producer: Natalia Fernandez
TUE 16:00 Artworks (m002rdqr)
Baby, You Can Compose My Car
You may have experienced a strange feeling in a car park over the last few years, where you hear a sound that resembles a choir of angels. Have no fear, your time isn’t up (yet). It’s one of a range of sounds that car manufacturers are required by law to add to electric vehicles (EVs) to warn pedestrians and other road users that a car is approaching.
And with the drive to electric gathering momentum, it’s a sound we’ll be hearing a lot more of in the future. Comedian John Robins takes a drive in an EV, and talks to some of the composers and musicians involved in designing the sounds that are changing the world around us. Will new cars on the market echo the old internal combustion engines we're familiar with, or will our sonic landscape change forever?
Contributors:
Jean-Michel Jarre, composer, musician
Renzo Vitale, composer, musician, creative director for sound design at BMW Group
John Kallen, composer, musician, co-founder & Creative Lead of Audio UX
Jay Kapadia, musician, creative sound director for General Motors
Roisin Kiberd, writer on technology, author of The Disconnect and creative writing lecturer at the University of Galway, Ireland
Producer: Fiona Clampin
Executive Producer: Leonie Thomas
Sound mix: Mike Woolley
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002rdqt)
Does your immune system need boosting?
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.
What defines a well-functioning immune system, and why are some people seemingly "immune" to everything while others catch every cold? In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into the complex mechanics of immunology. They tackle the controversial trend of "immune boosting" and discuss the delicate balance between under-active and over-active responses.
To help unpick this, they're joined by Professor Dan Davis, Head of Life Sciences and Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London and author of Self-Defence - a myth-busting guide to immune health.
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: Prof Daniel Davis
Producer: Faye Lyons-White
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Mili Ostojic
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Visual Producer: Leon Gower
Digital Lead: Richard Berry
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
At the BBC:
Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 17:00 PM (m002rdqw)
Iran says 'guiding principles' agreed for a nuclear deal with US
Indirect nuclear talks have concluded in Geneva, and may pave the way for future negotiations. Also on the programme, we reflect on the life and legacy of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rdqy)
The American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has died
One of the most influential voices of the American civil rights movement, Jesse Jackson, has died at the age of 84. Also: Nigel Farage has named the former Conservative Cabinet minister, Robert Jenrick, as Reform UK's choice to become Chancellor if the party wins power at the next general election. And heavy snow disrupts the Winter Olympics.
TUE 18:30 You Heard It Here First (m002rdr0)
Series 3
6. Blindfolds On, Pants Off
Chris McCausland asks Rhys James and Roisin Conaty to take on Zoe Lyons and Nabil Abdulrashid. The teams put on blindfolds and must guess the age of audience members based on voice alone, as well as work out what famous or iconic images children are trying to describe.
Producer: Sasha Bobak
Assistant Producer: Eve Delaney
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002rdr2)
At Berrow, Hannah concedes Ruairi’s doing better than she expected. She’s still not convinced he’ll stay the course though, but Ruairi’s enthusiasm is very persuasive. Ruairi goes with Neil to the outdoor unit, where Neil invites him to a meeting with a feed representative before suggesting a more challenging task for Ruairi to get involved with. Later, Neil tells Ruairi they’ve been sufficiently impressed to want to continue his training. He’ll have to take an online welfare handling course, but can then start looking at stockperson training to further his career.
In their search for the missing watch Rex and Alice split the list of pubs in Felpersham where it could have been handed in. Alice reassures Rex she’ll be fine going into bars on her own, but when they meet up later they’ve both drawn a blank. They go into the last pub together, the Brewhouse, where the manager tells them she’s kept the watch in her safe. Alice can’t believe the owner was so negligent, leaving it in a toilet, but at least Rex’s problems should be over. Rex offers to share any reward, before they discover they’re both going to the Bull’s Pancake Day celebration.
At The Bull later Ruairi tells Neil not to book him on stockperson training as he’s not sure how long he’ll be staying at Berrow. Rex arrives, followed by Alice, who suggests going for a drink at the Brewhouse one night. Misunderstanding Alice’s intention Rex suggests Ruairi could come along too, with Paul and some others. Covering, Alice agrees that sounds wonderful.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002rdr4)
Playwright Jim Cartwright on his groundbreaking debut play Road
In 1986 Jim Cartwright's debut play, Road, was the theatrical sensation of the year and its reputation has only grown in the decades that have followed. As a new production to mark its 40th anniversary opens at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Jim Cartwright joins Front Row to reflect on why the play has had such an enduring impact.
"How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun.” So exclaimed Van Gogh in a letter. Now an exhibition, 'Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh's Colour', at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam explores why the artist and his contemporaries loved yellow so much. Art historians Martin Bailey and Kirsty Sinclair Dootson discuss the significance of yellow in art, and the long history of the colour.
American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir on her new Oscar-nominated documentary, The Perfect Neighbour, which looks at a 2023 shooting incident in Florida when white female, Susan Louise Lorincz, fatally shot her black female neighbour, Ajike Owens.
Dr Jasmine Allen, Director of the Stained Glass Museum, on the "nation's favourite" stained glass window at Carlisle Cathedral.
Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu
TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002rdr6)
Can boxing look after its own?
Boxing is on the rise with streaming giants now broadcasting major fights and heavy investment from Saudi Arabia reshaping the sport. But for boxers facing money or health problems out of the ring, help is not always easy to come by. As File on 4 Investigates discovers, some in boxing are now working towards a unified approach across the sport, which would help fighters throughout their careers, but can they make it work?
Reporter: Kal Sajad
Producer: Ashley Kennedy
Additional research: Clive Hammond
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Co-ordinators: Ellis Goodwin & Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott
Details of organisations offering help and support for the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002rdr8)
Cunard Cruises, NaviLens on Ultra-Processed Foods
Sharon and Tony Stockman are a totally blind couple that booked a 19-day voyage with Cunard cruises. They submitted their access requirements way in advance, but it all didn't quite go to plan when they stepped on board. With the help of the Independent's travel correspondent Simon Calder, In Touch assesses their case.
Eilidh Morrison has launched a campaign that aims to help more visually impaired people better identify ultra-processed food, with the help of specialist QR codes. Eilidh outlines how it can often be difficult to read the ingredients within food packaging due to its small print size and so she is proposing more products feature NaviLens. Jose Castejon of NaviLens provides information about how the codes work and how viable Eilidh's campaign idea is.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.
TUE 21:00 Illuminated (m002rddl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Sunday]
TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m002r4vf)
Private Renting: Who Wants to Be a Landlord?
The UK’s private rental market has grown dramatically over recent decades, creating what often feels like a tale of two nations: ‘Generation Rent’ who are priced out of home ownership and unable to access social housing; and buy-to-let investors who view property as a reliable income stream or pension plan.
Rising rents, poor conditions and fierce competition for homes have fuelled frustration with landlords, prompting political efforts to strengthen protections for tenants and increase tax pressure on property owners.
Now the sector is facing a turning point – with large institutional investors, backed by pension funds, for example, playing an increasing role. Evan Davis and guests discuss the state of the UK rental market and where it might be heading.
Guests:
Ashley Winston, Director of Palmdale Car Finders
Andy Graham, Host, HMO Podcast
Polly Simpson, Head of multi-family development at Savills
Production team:
Presenter: Evan Davis
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound engineers: Ben Andrews and Tim Heffer
Editor: Matt Willis
The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rdrb)
Reverend Jesse Jackson dies aged 84
Reverend Jesse Jackson, a giant of the civil rights movement, has died at the age of 84. As politicians from across the spectrum pay tribute to his legacy, we speak to his son, who was with him when he died.
Also on the programme: Labour faces a mass resignation of councillors in Hartlepool over funding for children in care. The local Labour MP tells us he’s “furious”.
And as China celebrates the Lunar New Year, an astrologer tells us what to expect from the Year of the Fire Horse.
TUE 22:45 James by Percival Everett (m002rdrd)
7: Shoot
Rhashan Stone reads the winner of 2025's Pulitzer Prize by one of America's greatest contemporary authors.
Mississippi, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs. Hiding on nearby Jackson Island he tries to formulate a plan. But when his friend Huck Finn arrives with the news that he's faked his own death to escape his violent father, Jim knows he will be blamed. As so begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States and beyond.
Powerful, electrifying and brimming with the dark humour, this multi award-winning novel has already become a modern classic.
Today: Jim's plan to escape from slavery ends in a dramatic swim across the Mississippi - and tragedy.
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Writer: Percival Everett (born 1956) is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He is the Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams
TUE 23:00 Artworks (m002jsqf)
Iris Barry, First Lady of Film
In 1924 Iris Barry wrote the infamous words: “Going to the pictures is nothing to be ashamed of.”
We think of cinema as being the defining artform of the 20th century, but at its inception film was considered anything but art. It was a cheap form of mass entertainment circulating through flea pit cinemas and music halls. Yet one woman dedicated her life to changing that perception.
Silent film historian Pamela Hutchinson explores the extraordinary life of Iris Barry – the pioneering 1920s critic, curator and film preservationist who made the case for cinema to be taken seriously.
Through sheer force of will, a razor-sharp wit and the magnetism of her writing, Iris Barry managed to catapult herself from provincial obscurity into the upper echelons of high society – on both sides of the Atlantic – and in the process forever changed the course of cinematic history, while leading a life worthy of the most improbable of film plots.
Featuring Richard Brody of the New Yorker, Bryony Dixon curator for silent film for the British Film Institute, Arts Editor for The Spectator Igor Toronyi-Lalic, journalist and academic Henry K. Miller, and Iris Barry biographer Robert Sitton.
Presented by Pamela Hutchinson
Produced by James King and Ashley Pollak
Consultant: Igor Toronyi-Lalic
Sound Mix by Tom O’Sullivan
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Artworks (m001jl0w)
Roleplay
Waiting for Godot
Stories and reflections of actors from across the world who have all played the same parts. They tell us what the roles mean and what the parts mean to them. This time it's the turn of the pair of tramps in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot: Vladimir and Estragon.
It's a play where famously "nothing happens". Vladimir and Estragon are bowler-hatted tramps standing on a country road waiting for someone called Godot. The play divides audiences - but its slapstick humour, staccato dialogue, and existential themes have made it one of the most acclaimed plays of the twentieth century.
Vladimir and Estragon have travelled the world and the play has been performed in moments of crisis, from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to Sarajevo in the Balkans War.
The two main characters are like partners, friends, enemies... And Beckett's precise directions for the play have provoked questions about who can play Vladimir and Estragon.
So pull a rock, sit by a tree, take off your boots... this is Roleplay.
Featuring Tweedy aka Alan Digweed, Aaron Monaghan, Marty Rea, Bill Paterson, Velibor Topić, J Kyle Manzay, Silent Faces Theatre (Josie Underwood, Jack Wakely and Cordelia Stevenson) and Sophia Almaz and Oleksiy Dashkovsky from Theatre UZHIK in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
Produced by Sam Grist and Camellia Sinclair for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mixed by Michael Harrison
Acknowledgements:
From the Fifties: Waiting for Godot, BBC Home Service, 5 Feb 1962
Play by Samuel Beckett
Producer - Robin Midgley
Vladimir - Nigel Stock
Estragon - Kenneth Griffith
The Boy - Terry Raven
Waiting for Godot, BBC Archive, 5 Sep 1981
Play by Samuel Beckett
Director - Richard Callanan
Vladimir - Max Wall
Estragon - Leo McKern
Archive:
Masterworks: Waiting for Godot, BBC Radio 4, 22nd March 1977
Druid Theatre, Trailer Waiting for Godot, November 2016
Points West Evening News, BBC One, 13th February 2019
Reporting Scotland, BBC One Scotland, 21st September 2015
News Special: Hurricane Katrina, BBC One, 4th September 2005
Newsnight, BBC Two, 8th Sep 2005
News & Notes, NPR, 9th Nov 2007
Godot is a Woman - teaser, Silent Faces, 7th June 2022
Artsnight, BBC Two, 31st July 2015
Still Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo, BBC Radio 4, 21st August 2015
Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo, BBC Radio 4, 20th March 1994
1992 Sarajevo, BBC News Archive
Waiting for What?, BBC Network Radio, 14th April 1961
Theater-studio "Uzhik" video, 23rd October 2022
WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2026
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002rdrg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 00:30 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdqb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rdrj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rdrl)
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 (m002rdrn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:04 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8txz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 on Monday]
WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rdrq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rdrs)
Lessons from the snow and ice
Good morning.
The Winter Olympics are currently taking place in Italy.
I’ve not experienced these sports unless you count childhood occasions of sliding around on ice when local lakes had frozen over or a few ice rink adventures at Christmas time in central London!
Plus I’ve always been scared of going down hill at speed and don’t especially like the cold!
However, I’ve really enjoyed receiving short videos and messages from my good friend in Estonia who has been getting out on her skis and skates over these past few months.
To feel more engaged with the Winter Olympics, I asked what she loves about skiing and skating.
Highlights she shared with me include a feeling of freedom; she can’t be worrying about problems or thinking about anything in the past or what’s happening tomorrow. It calls her to be completely present in the moment, connecting to an inner flow that comes through coordinating her breath and movement, bringing a sense of aliveness and alignment with the universal spirit.
But what I found especially interesting is she said it’s helped with conquering many fears including how the mountain and the cold has helped her conquer a fear of death.
So I’ve appreciated reflecting on what the Olympics can teach us that relates to our everyday existence.
Dear God, may we have gratitude and respect for this physical body, which is the centre of our experience. Even if we aren’t going to be Olympic champions, may we feel inspired and courageous to try new experiences and bring a new depth of understanding about what it means to be human. But also recognise how activities that take us out of our comfort zone can support our growth so we may excel in our own way within the bigger picture of our life. Sat Naam
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002rdrv)
18/02/26 Record month for illegal meat, independent vet practices, sheep shearers visas
Thirty four tonnes of illegal meat and animal products were intercepted over the course of January, at Dover docks. The Port Health Authority says it's the highest monthly total they have ever seized. Meanwhile, also in January, Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority discovered 300 kilos of illegal pork at Harwich. It was found wrapped in foil and packed into suitcases. The chair of the Commons Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee, Alistair Carmichael, gives his reaction.
We’re talking about farm vets all this week on the programme. Until 1999 UK veterinary practises had to be owned by vets but now 60 per cent of practises are owned by companies - some of them large. In Staffordshire, farm vet Ellen Widdowson decided to set up her own independent practice, with a colleague, after her previous employer was bought by a corporate group.
The Home Office has said it’ll no longer give special temporary access to the UK for overseas sheep shearers. The National Association of Agricultural Contractors says the concession is essential to the farming industry, and the decision could compromise animal welfare. The association estimates the 75 or so overseas shearers, who mainly come from New Zealand and Australia, would shear up to 1.5 million sheep during their time in the UK.
Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Sarah Swadling
WED 06:00 Today (m002rdxb)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Sideways (m002rdxd)
81. The Story My Sister Told Me
It’s 5 pm, and 4-year-old Aqeela, his sister Londie, and three of their siblings scuttle under a tent they’ve made in the boys’ bedroom. It’s time for “The Story”. For weeks, they play out missions and tasks given by an old, wise Kung Fu master. Their mission? Save the world. It’s a story of responsibility, purpose and rewards.
Years later, when Aqeela finds himself part of a gang war in South Los Angeles, ‘The Story’ comes back to him at the most unexpected moment, changing the course of his life.
Throughout our whole existence, we hear and create stories. Some we forget immediately, others we keep with us forever. Matthew Syed looks at the impact one simple story can have on an individual - and sometimes many more.
With former LA gang member and social activist Aqeela Sherrills; Elander (Londie) Sherrills-Hills; Professor of Education, Psychology, and Neuroscience Mary Helen Immordino-Yang from University of Southern California; and Marshall Duke, Professor of Psychology at Emory University, Atlanta.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Mark Pittam
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Featuring archive from:
NBC News, Los Angeles - 18 February 1983 - Report by Heidi Shulmann about gang activity in LA
NBC News Special LA Riots Report - 30th April 1992 - Tom Brokaw
WED 09:30 The History Bureau (m002qjrx)
Putin and the Apartment Bombs
5. The Investigator
A former KGB investigator steps forward, risking everything to get to the truth.
As Putin’s power grows, American journalist Scott Anderson returns to the story of the 1999 apartment bombings. Only one man will speak to him: Mikhail Trepashkin. Once KGB, then FSB, Trepashkin used to believe fiercely in the system he served. Now, drawn into the mystery surrounding the bombings, he follows the evidence into the shadows where police sketches don’t match suspects, allies end up dead and the cost of digging deeper into the FSB’s activities keeps rising. In this episode, Helena speaks to Scott about the investigator turned whistleblower who refused to give up.
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 bulidings 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 (m002rdxg)
Belle Burden, Controversy at the Civil Service, Women in Sudan, Pelvic mesh
The woman tipped to be the next head of the UK Civil Service has faced multiple bullying complaints according to reports this morning. The Times newspaper says "there is more than a whiff of misogyny" in the briefings against her. Nuala McGovern hears more about the debate over the possible appointment of Dame Antonia Romeo with Kitty Donaldson, the Chief Political Commentator for the i Newspaper, and Caroline Slocock. Caroline was the first female private secretary to a British Prime Minister when she served alongside Margaret Thatcher.
Belle Burden is a former corporate lawyer, a pro bono immigration lawyer, a Harvard graduate and a mother of three, born into American high society. When she got married in 1999, her wedding was announced in the New York Times. Two decades later she broke with convention and published her candid essay on the marriage’s sudden rupture, in the long-running New York Times Modern Love series. Now her book Strangers: A Memoir of a Marriage has become a New York Times bestseller. Belle Burden joins Nuala live from New York to discuss ghosting, grieving and getting on with life on her own terms.
Tomorrow, the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will speak about the plight of women and girls in Sudan at the United Nations Security Council. Stories from the war-torn country are harrowing. Sudan’s conflict began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces or RSF. More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the UN has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Nuala is joined BBC’s Africa Correspondent, Barbara Plett Usher.
Two years ago, Dr Henrietta Hughes, England’s first Patient Safety Commissioner, published a report laying out a plan for compensation for women harmed by pelvic mesh implants. The Hughes report set a deadline for the government, which has just passed without action. Dr Hughes tell Nuala what action she wants to see from the government, and Kath Sansom, the founder of the Sling The Mesh campaign group, tells us how women’s lives have been affected.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002rdr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Tuesday]
WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002rdxj)
16th - 22nd February
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
This week: 16th - 22nd February
16th February 1959 - Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister.
21st February 1804 - The world's first railway journey takes place.
22nd of February 1797 - The last Invasion of Britain; French soldiers land at Fishguard… but are soon captured.
WED 11:45 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdxl)
Episode 3: Being a woman
In a series of five essays, award-winning novelist Leïla Slimani reflects on otherness. From her arrival in Paris as an immigrant from Morocco to her experience of motherhood, it’s an exploration that is central to her identity and writing. She examines the wide-ranging influence of the theme on her life, her thinking and her engagement with the world.
In the third essay, Leïla examines the condition of being a woman in societies dominated by men, where women are both inferior and other. She describes her rebellion against the sexism of both Morocco and France, and how books and writing became her route to liberation.
Leïla Slimani was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, in 2016 for her novel Lullaby. Her other novels include The Country of Others and Adèle.
Presenter: Leïla Slimani
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Sara Davies
Sound Engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m002rdxn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002rdxq)
Energy Price Cap, Buy Now Pay Later, Property Guardians
Next week the energy regulator Ofgem will announce its latest energy price cap to come into force from April. The energy price cap sets the limit of what energy suppliers can charge per unit of energy, and is currently set at £1,758 per year. However, according to Cornwall Insight, a firm that closely monitors the data, consumers can expect the cap to go down by at least £100 from April. We’ll discuss why and whether consumers are feeling better about their energy bills.
One in four shoppers in the UK currently use companies like Klarna and Clearpay to spread the cost of what they buy. Buy-now-pay-later companies do not charge interest and are not regulated in the same way that credit card or loan providers are, but from 15th of July this will change. The Financial Conduct Authority will be introducing new rules to protect consumers, including affordability checks, consumer protections and a formalised complaints process.
Its more than 20 years since the first cashback websites appeared in the UK. Cashback websites offer to pay you a percentage of what you spend online so long as you do it using their links to the websites of certain retailers. Financial website Money Saving Expert says that it is possible to save hundreds of pounds a year by using these sites, but it is far from easy. We discuss how they work and whether they are worth the time and investment.
Would you live in an empty office block or unused church if the rent was cheap enough? As the cost of renting continues to rise, its something more people are considering by becoming property guardians. Property guardians pay below market rate to live in unused properties, which can range from offices to former schools and factories that have been repurposed. Can it help ease the housing crisis?
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: CHARLIE FILMER-COURT
WED 12:57 Weather (m002rdxs)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m002rdxv)
Ambassadors call for action on the West Bank
We speak to a former UK representative to Jerusalem and a former Israeli ambassador to the UK, as Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper prepares to Chair a meeting at the UN Security Council. We hear from the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress as speculation grows around the youth minimum wage, and we consider the psychology of winning at all costs as Canada's men's curling team faces accusations of cheating.
WED 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvxf)
Impulsive
3. Dopamine Hits
Freddie finds out his dad’s been scammed - to his horror, he hears that his father Bill has been speaking to multiple women in Ghana who he’d met on Skype, and sent them £300,000.
And Steve’s wife finds out about his camgirl habit when he makes a payment to one of the sites on their joint credit card.
Neither Bill nor Steve has any idea why they’ve been behaving erratically.
Noel meets retired neurologist Paul Morrish, who remembers that doctors were starting to notice their patients experiencing unusual side effects from dopamine agonist drugs as far back as the early 2000s.
So why weren’t some patients being properly warned fifteen years later?
And neuropsychiatry professor Valerie Voon from the University of Cambridge explains how dopamine affects our perception of reward vs risk - which means people taking dopamine agonists can be prone to taking more risks.
Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.
Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A BBC News Long Form Audio production
WED 14:00 The Archers (m002rdr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002rdxx)
Downstream
Nick Warburton's comedy drama returns. It takes us to the Fens and the Platters' boatyard nestled on the river.
The Platter community is an eccentric one and at its heart is the chaotic pairing of Pat and his sister Libby. Libby, after a long absence, appears to be back to stay and so does Ravi, the newcomer, who Libby took under her wing. Can they all muddle along together in harmony? Possibly but there are hidden Platter secrets still waiting to be uncovered.
Libby ..... Monica Dolan
Pat ..... Oliver Chris
Ravi ..... Waleed Akhtar
Greg ..... Django Bevan
Directed by Tracey Neale
This second story, narrated by Pat, kicks off with a crisis: Martine, the boatyard Manager (who had a fear of water) has walked out. Her shock departure presents Pat with a problem. Either he runs the boatyard himself or employs someone else. Either idea makes him anxious.
Libby proposes a plan. Both her and Ravi will apply for the job. She’ll ensure Ravi gets it. Although Ravi has experience (he hasn’t) and bristles with good ideas (daydreams), is this ever going to work out for the best?
There are gorgeous trips along the river and over to Blake’s Island. Plans need to be made to thwart a troublesome visitor. But there are unresolved issues and hidden secrets between Pat and Libby that need to be uncovered.
The Writer:
Nick Warburton's wonderful, gentle touch with family dramas is no secret to Radio 4 listeners, as shown in Mardle Fen, Holding Back the Tide, Downstream, and The Archers.
The Cast:
Monica Dolan (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Sherwood, The Change)
Oliver Chris (Rivals, My Lady Jane)
Waleed Akhtar (Won an Olivier Award for his play 'The P Word')
Django Bevan (2025 BBC Carleton Hobbs winner)
Producer & Director: Tracey Neale
Technical Producers:
Keith Graham and Sam Dickinson
Production Co-Ordinators: Sara Benaim and Clare Ewing
WED 15:00 Money Box (m002rdxz)
Money Box Live: Starting Out
How hard is it for young people to find a job and once they do how can they make it pay?
Some 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 are not able to find work according to the latest government figures, the highest level for 10 years. Without a job, being able buying a home, paying into a pension or just pay the bills can seem impossible.
So what's the best way to go? Graduate job, apprenticeship or working your way up from an entry level job and what support is there for those struggling whilst on the hunt?
The Department for Work and Pensions told Money Box Live, "We’re determined to tackle youth unemployment, which is why we’re investing £1.5 billion through our Youth Guarantee in work experience, apprenticeships and subsidised jobs."
Joining Paul Lewis today is Barry Fletcher, Chief Executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, a charity focused on reducing youth unemployment. And Lizzie Crowley a skills advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producers: James Graham and Sarah Rogers
Editor: Robert Cave
Senior Editor: Justin Bones
(This episode was first broadcast on Wednesday the 18th of February 2026)
Picture credit BAE Systems
WED 15:30 The Artificial Human (m002rdy1)
Is AI killing Search?
Aleks and Kevin look at how Ai chatbots and summaries might kill the web as we know it. When people get all the answers they want from their AI, can the sites they've scraped for content survive if no one visits them? Sajeeda Merali of the professional publishers association discusses the challenges her members face. And the original disruptor of spreading information, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, talks about the reliance of Ai on the work of his legions of volunteer 'wikipedians' and why attribution is such an issue.
Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong
Producer: Peter McManus
Research: Rachael O'Neill
WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002rdy3)
Heart v Head PR
How do you fight a PR battle when everyone's already decided you're the bad guys?
That's the problem facing the water industry on the eve of a new Channel 4 factual drama called Dirty Business. The clue is in the title. It focuses on a 10-year investigation into sewage-polluted waters.
Sticking to the facts is a basic rule of PR - but when coming up against raw anger and emotion, do you need more than facts? How do you appeal to hearts as well as minds?
On the extended edition on BBC Sounds, PR itself is in the dock. Two firms have found themselves making rather than shaping the news in recent weeks - over the Epstein files and allegations of trying to journalists. Put mildly, the companies involved have a battle on their hands to protect their own reputations. David and Simon explain why.
And if you think Heathrow is too crowded, you're very much mistaken. According to the CEO of the airport, it's simply because people are 'walking in the wrong places'. He might have a point, but the problem is, if you say something that sounds ridiculous, it doesn't matter how right you are - you're wrong.
Producer: Duncan Middleton
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: Eve Streeter
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002rdy5)
MTV’s legacy, the new Lucy Letby documentary on Netflix and the traditional ad agency in crisis.
On this edition of The Media Show, Ros Atkins examines the continuing public interest in the Lucy Letby case, as a new Netflix documentary reaches the top of the UK viewing rankings. He speaks to Josh Halliday, North of England Editor at The Guardian, and Dr Bethany Usher of Newcastle University, whose work focuses on the ethics of true‑crime storytelling and the development of new guidelines for the genre.
Tom Freston, co‑founder of MTV, reflects on how the channel’s launch in 1981 transformed popular culture and what its closure in the UK and Europe signifies for its legacy.
And we assess the state of the advertising industry following one of its most challenging years on record. James Kirkham, founder of Iconic, discusses his view that the traditional agency model is in steep decline, while Becky Owen, Chief Marketing Officer at Billion Dollar Boy, outlines the rapid expansion of influencer marketing and the new dynamics shaping the sector.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
WED 17:00 PM (m002rdy7)
Children injured by NHS can claim damages for lifetime lost earnings
Until now, children have only been entitled to compensation for lost earnings for the years they are expected to live. We consider the wider impact on public finances. Also on PM, NHS bosses are warning that a shortage of medical cement is likely to lead to delays for a number of patients waiting for knee or hip replacements. And we ask one of the architects of the minimum wage whether or not he thinks there should be one rate for adults of all ages -- as the government delays implementation of its manifesto pledge.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rdy9)
Les Wexner says his "heart goes out " to survivors of Jeffrey Epstein
The billionaire US businessman, Les Wexner, says his "heart goes out " to survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, after telling US politicians he himself was "duped" by a "master manipulator". Also: The NHS is facing a much bigger bill for damages in medical negligence cases involving children after a landmark ruling by the UK's highest court. And Mark Zuckerberg gives evidence in a lawsuit that's put social media on trial.
WED 18:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m0017v79)
Series 5
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Dai
Milton gets recruited by the kindliest Secret Service in the world to oversee a tense spy swap on the Severn Bridge.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is ‘Help!’. Because each week Milton and his trusty assistant Anton (played by Milton regular, Tom Goodman-Hill) set out to help people and soon find they’re embroiled in a new adventure. When you’re close to the edge, Milton can give you a push...
“Milton Jones is one of Britain’s best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners” – The Guardian.
“King of the surreal one-liners” - The Times
“If you haven’t caught up with Jones yet – do so!” – The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda), and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton’s Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call “Britain’s funniest Milton" returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell (Peep Show, Upstart Crow)
With music by Guy Jackson.
Produced and Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m002rdyc)
Ruairi worries to Brian about the effect pig farming might have on his social life. Brian’s more concerned by Ruairi turning down the stockperson training, informing him curtly that he’ll be staying at Berrow until Brian says otherwise. Ruairi knows this is about what he did to George, accepting his punishment. Brian disagrees, it’s not punishment. He’s simply doing what he should have done long ago, instilling a sense of purpose in Ruairi and giving him a dose of reality. Lynda arrives, looking to bring Brian back on board with Speedwatch. Brian’s far from keen, resisting both Lynda and Ruairi’s attempts to persuade him. Ruairi then tells Brian he’ll be doing the stockperson training after all, newly determined to be the best pig farmer he can.
After Zach mocks Lynda’s attempts to recruit Stella to the Speedwatch team he tells Stella he’s going for a walk around Ambridge, in an attempt to discover what’s so appealing about it. Zach starts at Hollowtree, engaging disenchanted Josh in a conversation about the travails of farming with all the difficulties and uncertainties attached to it. Zach then tells Josh about the financial security a career in wealth management gives him, before suggesting Pip should make a pre-nuptial arrangement with Stella to protect Brookfield’s interests. When Zach returns to Brookfield he helps Stella in the Events Barn, mentioning the pre-nup arrangement to her as well. He offers to help out at the party on Friday, then casually drops in that Josh won’t be in much of a party mood.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m002rdyf)
Amanda Seyfried and Mona Fastvold on their film The Testament of Ann Lee
Director Mona Fastvold and actor Amanda Seyfried discuss their film The Testament of Ann Lee, a musical history about the life of the founder of The Shakers, a mystic who moved from Manchester to the United States in the 18th century and founded a religious community, and who advocated for celibacy, communal living, and gender equality.
As a new production of George Bernard Shaw's St Joan opens, director Stewart Laing and theologian and art historian Ayla Lepine discuss how the 15th-century French religious martyr who led France to victory in the Hundred Years War against England but who was burned at the stake after being found guilty of heresy has influenced culture, and why her story is particularly relevant today.
In her new book Fashioning the Crown, journalist and author Justine Picardie explores how the women of The Windsors have used clothing to communicate messaging to the public. She speaks about her research in the Royal Archives and about how symbolic royal dress has been over the past century.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Mark Crossan
WED 20:00 AntiSocial (m002r4xr)
Who is Heathcliff?
Peace talks for the culture wars. The latest version of Wuthering Heights has come in for criticism on social media, especially about the casting of a white actor as Heathcliff. Chris Warburton and guests examine the debate about representation on the big screen.
Presenter: Chris Warburton
Producers: Natasha Fernandes, Tom Gillett, John Murphy
Studio Manager: Andrew Mills
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy
WED 20:45 The Bottom Line (m002gcwj)
The Decisions That Made Me
Julian Metcalfe (Itsu and Pret A Manger)
An early passion for the high street meant Julian Metcalfe was determined to get into retail from the get-go. He and his partner Sinclair Beecham founded Pret A Manger when he was just 26. In 2008 Pret was sold to a private equity firm, and Julian no longer had a say in the company’s future. Now Julian is in charge of Itsu, an Asian-inspired fast-food chain. The food entrepreneur talks to Evan Davis about how he is determined not to lose his decision-making role this time around.
Production team:
Producer: Eleanor Harrison-Dengate, Georgiana Tudor
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: John Scott
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
(Photo Credit: Itsu)
WED 21:00 Intrigue (m002q871)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Inside Health (m002rdq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rdyj)
Teenage girls forced into sex by London gangs, BBC finds
The BBC has uncovered new evidence that vulnerable girls and young women in London are being groomed by gangs to carry drugs and have sex. We discuss the findings with the former head of the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation Command.
Also on the programme: the day after the US State Department approved the UK's Chagos Islands deal, President Trump launches a new attack on it.
And the symphonic sounds hidden in the freezer aisle of a Sheffield supermarket.
WED 22:45 James by Percival Everett (m002rdyl)
8: Fathers and Sons
Rhashan Stone continues the winner of 2025's Pulitzer Prize by one of America's greatest contemporary authors.
Mississippi, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs. Hiding on nearby Jackson Island he tries to formulate a plan. But when his friend Huck Finn arrives with the news that he's faked his own death to escape his violent father, Jim knows he will be blamed. As so begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States and beyond.
Powerful, electrifying and brimming with the dark humour, this multi award-winning novel has already become a modern classic.
Today: as he finds himself swimming for his life amid the turmoil of the Civil War, Jim is forced to make an impossible decision...
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Writer: Percival Everett (born 1956) is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He is the Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams
WED 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002rdyn)
Slim's Guide to Life
1. Childhood
Comedian and legend of the black circuit, Slim, has been given a gift by his children.
It's an empty book. It turns out, they want him to fill it in himself, and tell them about his life in the process. He's lived a hell of a life, so he thought the Radio 4 listener might be interested too.
This episode, Slim guides us through his earliest years. Avoiding glue sniffers, hopping on the bus, and trying to avoid getting the belt. We also hear about his family, and why his brother wasn't much use in a playground fight.
Written and performed by Slim
Script Edited by David Ajao
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Recorded at Up The Creek comedy club by Chris Maclean.
Sound design by Chris Maclean
Music by Slim
Slim's Guide to Life is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, and is a BBC Studios production for Radio 4.
WED 23:15 How Not to Be Cringe with Finlay Christie and Kyrah Gray (m002rdyr)
Finlay Christie and Kyrah Gray present a guide to navigating the modern world without embarrassing yourself.
In this episode, they will expertly show us, with the help of special guest Andrew Mensah, How Not to Get Cancelled.
Written and Presented by Finlay Christie and Kyrah Gray
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producers: Jon Holmes and Carrie Rose
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Artworks (m00289h1)
Roleplay
Cleopatra
One big dramatic role. Actors from across the world tell us what the part means and what it means to them. This time: Cleopatra.
In the first episode of this new series, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Janet Suzman, Doña Croll and Nadia Nadarajah describe what it's like to play Cleopatra, taking us through the character's journey in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.
Cleopatra 7th of Egypt is one of the ancient world's most famous figures. But it was William Shakespeare who first made her an iconic dramatic role and shaped our ideas of this historical leader - in his play Antony and Cleopatra.
The play’s lines have stayed in the mind of Dame Judi Dench who initially doubted whether she could play the part. She tells stories of escaping snakes, secret suppers, and spectacular speeches. It's a part which has also fascinated Dame Janet Suzman, who has returned to the play and to the complex beguiling Cleopatra time and again over the last five decades.
The play travels from Egypt to Rome and back again - Doña Croll, thought to be the first black actor to play the role, talks about why Cleopatra is a part important to black actors, a role known for her power and her supposed beauty. Our image of the Egyptian ruler has perhaps been influenced more by one actor than any other: Elizabeth Taylor. Roger Lewis reveals the parallels between the lives of Taylor and Cleopatra.
Antony and Cleopatra's final act is known for its wonderful language and theatrical difficulty. Nadia Nadarajah, a Shakespearean actor who uses British Sign Language, explores Cleopatra’s famous final moments, surrounded by snakes.
Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio, Bristol
Edited by Emma Harding
Mixed by Ilse Lademann
Archive:
Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre, 1987
Director - Sir Peter Hall
Cleopatra - Judi Dench
Alexas - Robert Arnold
Antony and Cleopatra, ATV (ITV), 1974
Director - Jon Scoffield
Cleopatra - Janet Suzman
Antony - Richard Johnson
Caesar and Cleopatra (Followed by Antony and Cleopatra), BBC Network Radio, 12th August 1951
Producer - Ayton Whitaker
Cleopatra - Vivien Leigh
Antony - Laurence Olivier
Antony and Cleopatra, BBC Radio 3, 28th December 2014
Director - Alison Hindell
Cleopatra - Alex Kingston
Antony - Kenneth Branagh
Agrippa - Simon Armstrong
Octavius Caesar - Geoffrey Streatfield
Make Death Love Me: Antony and Cleopatra Re-imagined, BBC Radio 3, 24th April 2022
Director - Neil Bartlett
Producer - Turan Ali
Cleopatra - Adjoa Andoh
Antony - Tim McInnerny
World Drama - Antony and Cleopatra - Part 1, BBC Radio 3, 30th Jan 1977
Director/Producer - John Tydeman
Cleopatra - Sian Phillips
Antony and Cleopatra, BBC Network Radio, 12th July 1965
Producer - R.D. Smith
Enobarbus - Rupert Davies
Additional archive:
Kaleidoscope, BBC Radio 4, 13th November 1981; Prefaces to Shakespeare, BBC Radio 4, 2nd May 1981; What's New?, BBC Television, 3rd April 1962; Radio Two Arts Programme: Burton and Taylor, BBC Radio 2, 13th March 1994 including clips from Cleopatra, film, 1963 directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Antony; Film 74 Special: Richard Burton, BBC TV, 6th September 1974 including clips from Cleopatra 1963 film.
THURSDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2026
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002rdyt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 00:30 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rdyw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rdyy)
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 (m002rdz0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:04 Sideways (m002rdxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rdz2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rdz4)
Good Morning Sisters!
Good Morning.
With nearly 30 million Sikhs in the world, the Sikh faith is the fifth largest religion. So I’m aware of being part of a global community that shares a common reference - the scripture called the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
At the same time, all is in small!
In 2019, I joined a committee which two colleagues from different parts of the world had also joined. We soon created a “breakout” group simply called “sisters” on a separate messaging app.
Since then, we’ve each encountered unexpected opportunities and life challenges, a range of ups and downs, causes for reflection on personal and professional decisions.
Our sisters group of just 3 members has become a significant feature and support in my life. Sometimes we need the more personal, human touch. These two women pay attention, reflect back to me my blindspots, remind me of my gifts when I’m full of doubt, challenge me if my perceptions are distorted so I get a clearer view that is in alignment with my faith.
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is 1430 Angs or pages of Divine Wisdom that is mystical and poetic, reflecting the light of the soul. But there are three earthly words from these two women that have also been a light in dark times, offering a meaningful connection when I’ve felt the lonely or solitude nature of the soul. Each day, the first message I often receive is: “Good Morning Sisters!”
Dear God, thank you for reminding me that your care and love is always at work, here on the ground, often transmitted through everyday words from the people who are part of my day-to-day life, bringing me back to a deep feeling of connection which includes your presence in all things.
Sat Naam
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002rdz6)
19/02/26 Wet weather, Community vets practice
The Environment Agency and Met Office are warning of more rain and unsettled weather continuing into March at least. And that’s going to delay essential farm jobs even longer - crops not planted, slurry not spread. For contractors who rely on this work, the forecast is another blow. Their national body - the National Association of Agricultural Contractors - has been meeting in Cornwall to discuss the situation. Its chair Matt Redman told Caz Graham the rain is stopping vital work, and when it finally clears there will be less time to complete the work, putting extra strain on staff and machinery.
The UK is facing an acute shortages of vets, particularly in farm animal and public sector roles. A survey last year suggested that more than 40 % of ‘large animal’ vets have considered leaving their jobs, and replacing them will be difficult - many undergraduates who study veterinary science have limited exposure to farmers and agriculture, and choose to specialise in other parts of the profession. Will Golding is a graduate of the University of Nottingham’s vet school and knew from the off that farm vet practice was the career for him.
Not having access to a large animal vet makes farming - or crofting - impossible. So when the last vet on the Hebridean Island of Tiree retired and no one came forward to take over the practice, islanders realised they’d have to take matter into their own hands. This week they’ve opened what’s thought to be UK’s first ‘not for profit’ community owned vets.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced in Bristol by Sally Challoner
THU 06:00 Today (m002rgh1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002rgh3)
John Keats
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the short life and lasting works of Keats (1795-1821), who in one year wrote some of the most loved poems in English. Among these are Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode on Melancholy. That most productive year began in autumn 1818, when Keats had been stung by some reviews labelling him an uncouth Cockney who should go back to his former work as an apothecary, work he had left for poetry only two years before with the encouragement of enthusiastic friends. Just over two years later, Keats was dead in Rome from tuberculosis, before his work found fame, though some who knew him, including Shelley, believed his true killer was the critics.
With
Fiona Stafford
Professor of English Language and Literature and Tutorial Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford
Nicholas Roe
Wardlaw Professor of English Literature at the University of St Andrews
And
Meiko O’Halloran,
Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at Newcastle University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
John Barnard, John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 1987)
Katie Garner and Nicholas Roe (eds), John Keats and Romantic Scotland (Oxford University Press, 2022)
Ian Jack, Keats and the Mirror of Art (Oxford University Press, 1967)
John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Selected Writings (Oxford University Press, 2020)
John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Oxford 21st-Century Authors (University Press, 2017)
John Keats (ed. John Barnard), Selected Poems (Penguin, 2007)
John Keats (ed. John Barnard), The Complete Poems (Penguin, 2nd edition, 1977)
John Keats (ed. Jeffrey N. Cox), Keats’s Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008)
Carol Kyros Walker, Walking North with Keats (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)
Richard Marggraf Turley (ed.), Keats’s Places (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
Lucasta Miller, Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph (Jonathan Cape, 2021)
Michael O’Neill (ed.), John Keats in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
Christopher Ricks, Keats and Embarrassment (Oxford University Press, 1974)
Nicholas Roe, John Keats: A New Life (Yale University Press, 2012)
Helen Vendler, The Odes of Keats (Belknap Press, 2004)
Susan J. Wolfson, Reading John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
Susan J. Wolfson (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2001)
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 (m002rgh5)
For the Sake of Transparency (with Natalie Haynes and Michael Gove)
Armando is joined by Natalie Haynes and Michael Gove to discuss the true meaning of transparency.
With his experience as both a politician and a journalist, Michael Gove gives his insight into how transparency can often mean the opposite. He also explains the perverse incentive for ministers to go out and defend tricky positions, and what it feels like to have your private communications laid bare in an inquiry.
And with Natalie on the show, we look at historical examples of turbulent leadership, and find out who has the dubious honour of being 'the Liz Truss of ancient Rome'.
Got a strong message for Armando? Email us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk
Sound editing: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Recorded at The Sound Company
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rgh7)
George Sand, SEND provision leak, Dr Punam Krishan, Divine Feminine Opera
Children with special education needs and disabilities - known as SEND - in England will have their support reviewed as they move into secondary school, according to leaked government plans. Anita Rani speaks to Catriona Moore, policy manager from IPSEA, and SEND parent and campaigner Rachel Filmer.
It's 150 years since the death of George Sand, the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin who, by the time she was thirty, was one of the most famous writers in the world. Born in 1804, her works became extremely popular in French and in translation, outselling Hugo and Balzac in Britain. She wrote more than 70 novels, countless plays, political essays, and an autobiography as well as launching a literary review, two local newspapers and two national republican political journals. She dressed as a man, smoked cigars, and had what was said at the time to be a promiscuous private life. Her biographer, Fiona Sampson tells her story to Anita.
Dr Punam Krishan is a Glasgow based NHS GP and the resident doctor on the BBC’s Morning Live programme. Back in 2024 she was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing where she was the first dancer to perform a Bollywood routine. But six months ago, at the age of 42, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and has since gone through treatment. She has recently written about how being a doctor didn’t prepare her for the experience of being a patient. Dr Punam joins Anita to discuss.
We hear from the creators of a brand new opera exploring the Divine Feminine, its relevance in the modern world and the enduring archetype of the Goddess across different cultures. Soprano Emma Tring from the BBC Singers, composer Shiva Feshareki and award-winning poet Karen McCarthy Woolf join Anita to discuss their empowering, futuristic opera, which has been commissioned by Radio 3 to celebrate International Women’s Day next month.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Corinna Jones
THU 11:00 The Body Politic (m0026v8g)
Surrogacy
The politics of the human body is at the centre of intense debate in the UK and beyond. Thanks to science, technology and a fast-moving political landscape, humans are increasingly able to intervene in the natural processes of life – how we are conceived, how we are born and how and when we die. But what are the limits to this intervention, how should we decide and who should decide?
Broadcaster and columnist Sonia Sodha gets behind divides and polarisation to discover nuance, complexity and compelling stories, often involving a fascinating clash of competing rights and interests.
The first episode focuses on surrogacy, where a woman gestates and gives birth to a baby for a couple or and individual. The UK surrogacy debate is at a crossroads - the practice is legal but limited, with reforms on the table to create new routes and attract more surrogates to come forward. Should they be implemented or should we follow countries like Italy, Spain and Germany and ban surrogacy entirely?
Sonia hears emotional testimony from those who have become new parents through surrogacy – a single man parenting a young daughter, a gay male couple who now run a leading surrogacy agency and an Irish senator whose experience of infertility led her to surrogacy in India and a campaign to reform the law in Ireland. Sonia hears too from a former surrogate who defends her right to use her body to help others become parents.
We also hear powerful stories from opponents, including a French woman born through surrogacy who is now estranged from her parents and claims long term psychological damage. And radical feminists explain why they see surrogacy as exploitative and misogynistic and why their campaign has brought strange new alliances across ideological divides.
Producer: Leala Padmanabhan
Sound Design: Hal Haines
THU 11:45 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rgh9)
Episode 4: Language and belonging
In a series of five essays, award-winning novelist Leïla Slimani reflects on otherness. From her arrival in Paris as an immigrant from Morocco to her experience of motherhood, it’s an exploration that is central to her identity and writing. She examines the wide-ranging influence of the theme on her life, her thinking and her engagement with the world.
In the fourth essay, Leïla examines language – both as a barrier to belonging and as a celebration of otherness. As a Moroccan-born novelist who writes in French, she considers the impact of the battle for the cultural dominance of language. She grew up in a multicultural society, but swiftly encountered the politics of language from her earliest days at a French lycée in Morocco, where the native Arabic language was downgraded. As an ambassador for the French language, Leila has protested against the ideological use and abuse of language in the wake of 9/11 and the attacks in Paris in 2015. Her essay is a call for diversity.
Leïla Slimani was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, in 2016 for her novel Lullaby. Her other novels include The Country of Others and Adèle.
Presenter: Leïla Slimani
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Sara Davies
Sound Engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m002rghc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m002rghf)
How Do You Deal with a Workplace Bully?
Across our professional careers, many of us will come into contact with a difficult colleague or hard-to-please superior. But what happens when difficult behaviour crosses over into bullying at work? What effect does this have, not only on our wellbeing, but on our workplace as a whole?
Evidence suggests that bullying may be on the rise in the UK. A 2025 survey of British workers conducted by ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) found that 44% of respondents had experienced conflict at work in the last 12 months. And on the global stage, the resurgence of ‘strong man’ leadership has reignited a debate: does bullying behaviour get you what you want?
Evan and the panel look at what workplace bullying is, when and why bullying can occur, and the steps individuals and organisations can take to tackle this behaviour in the workplace.
Guests:
Jason Warner, Managing Director (UK and EMEA) at SBS
Kevin Rowan, Director of Dispute Resolution at ACAS
Kara Ng, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
Production team:
Presenter: Evan Davis
Producer: Mhairi MacKenzie
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Sound engineers: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Matt Willis
The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002rghh)
Baby Sleep Products
Sleep deprived parents everywhere are tempted to reach for anything that might help them get a little more sleep overnight – but can products promising to encourage babies to snooze for longer – really do that? And is there any science to back it up?
That is exactly what tired Dad-of-three Dave wanted to know – and whether there were any future implications from using these gadgets, docks, blinds and sleep bags?
New Dad Greg Foot speaks to Director of the Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre Professor Helen Ball, to find out.
You can also read the official Safer Sleep guidance, by copy and pasting the links below into your browser:
NHS - https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/baby-basics/newborn-and-baby-sleeping-advice-for-parents/safe-sleep-advice-for-babies/
Lullaby Trust - https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/safer-sleep-information/safer-sleep-overview/
RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM
PRODUCER: KATE HOLDSWORTH & GREG FOOT
THU 12:57 Weather (m002rghk)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m002rghm)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, is taken into custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office. We speak to broadcaster and confidant to the King, Jonathan Dimbleby. Also on the programme, Antonia Romeo is confirmed as the UK's top civil servant.
THU 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvxh)
Impulsive
4. Big Pharma, Big Secret
When BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge first started looking into this story, he set about finding insiders who knew what had gone on inside the pharmaceutical companies that made them. He contacted former staff and officials, cold called potential whistleblowers - and then he got lucky.
Someone shared an internal report from the drug company GlaxoSmithKline which revealed that they’d been aware of fifteen cases of “increased libido” in patients taking their dopamine agonist Ropinirole, including cases of paedophilia and indecent behaviour.
The report had been published in 2003, three years before warnings appeared on patient leaflets - and thirteen years before Steve started taking the drug.
Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.
Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A BBC News Long Form Audio production
THU 14:00 The Archers (m002rdyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002rghp)
Good People
2. The Left Behind
After reconnecting with Kieran, the looming general election forces Sonia to confront the past.
She returns to the early days of Project Hope, when the group were offered its biggest opportunity yet: but there's a catch for Kieran. It means a return to his struggling coastal hometown of Branwich. Will they take the offer? And can Kieran stomach siding with the opposition for the greater good?
Series Overview
Four young idealists - Sonia, Kieran, Indigo and Ayad - fall under the spell of charismatic thinker Faith Abbott at university and channel her ideas into a bold political experiment: Project Hope. Thrown into a struggling coastal town vulnerable to the far right, they try to reinvent politics from the ground up, backed - and sometimes undermined - by the unpredictable Abbie.
Project Hope captures global attention, but when Faith denounces them from beyond the grave, the group are forced to confront their shared history, and the moral compromises they've made to remain “good people”.
Good People is a fictional story set against our very real political moment, examining the rise of populism, the perceived failure of politics-as-usual, and the deep divisions that run though our country and beyond. The second episode in an ambitious six-part state of the nation drama from award-winning political writer Steve Waters.
CAST
Sonia ..... Natalie Simpson
Kieran ..... Nicholas Armfield
Faith ..... Anastasia Hille
Ayad ..... Ikky Kabir
Indigo ..... Alby Baldwin
Jackie ..... Jasmine Hyde
Gabe ..... Django Bevan
Nick ..... Clive Hayward
Abbie ..... Iona Champain
Writer ..... Steve Waters
Sound ..... Andy Garratt, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson
Casting Manager ..... Alex Curran
Script Development ..... Abigail Le Fleming
Production Co-ordinator ..... Kate Gray
Producer ..... Anne Isger
Director ..... Luke MacGregor
A BBC Studios Audio production
THU 15:00 Open Country (m002rghr)
The Mourne Mountain Fires
The Mourne Mountains in County Down are home to Northern Ireland’s highest and most dramatic peaks - a landscape often shrouded in cloud and rain. Yet in recent years thousands of fires have broken out across the range, the majority believed to have been started deliberately. Dry weather and hotter summers linked to climate change have made conditions even more hazardous, alongside the degradation of peat bogs and increased soil erosion.
Martha Kearney visits County Down to hear how local people have been affected, including farmer Sam McConnell and mountain rescue volunteers Neville Watson and Alwynne Shannon. She also discovers what is being done to mitigate the devastation, meeting lead ranger James Fisher and wildfire recovery ranger Linus Voksepp from the National Trust to learn about their vital restoration work.
Producer: Eliza Lomas
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rdc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Word of Mouth (m002rght)
Language Extinction
Michael Rosen talks to Sophia Smith Galer about the languages we're losing. She's found that by the end of this century half of the world’s 7000 languages will be gone, and she's travelled across the world to meet both the people who are experiencing this and those who are fighting to keep the words and the knowledge they hold alive.
Sophia Smith Galer is the author of How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance and the Race to Save Our Words.
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 The Briefing Room (m002rghw)
Should the Government ban social media for young people?
Pressure is building in the UK for a ban on social media use for young people as countries across the world watch Australia, which introduced its own ban for under 16s last December. Meanwhile, the government here is launching a public consultation on children’s use of social media which will look at a range of options, including a ban. It also said this week that it wants to create new legal powers so it can take action quickly. David Aaronovitch asks what the evidence so far tells us about social media and harm to young people and what else could be done about it short of an outright ban.
Guests:
Katy Watson, Sydney Correspondent
Luke Tryl, Director More in Common
Professor Amy Orben, Programme Leader at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Professor Sonia Livingstone, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics
Pete Etchells, Professor of Psychology and Science Communication, Bath Spa University
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m002s6by)
Wood, Smoke and Science: Cooking over fire
For this special festival recording of BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science, the fire pit is our science lab. Marnie Chesterton brings a sprinkling of chemistry and just a squeeze of paleoanthropology as we invite you to explore the science and human history of cooking over fire.
Recorded at Abergavenny Food festival 2025 with chef Sam Evans of Hangfire BBQ, archaeobotanical scientist Dr Ceren Kabukcu and Dr Joanna Buckley from the Royal Society of Chemistry
For more fascinating science content, you can head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton.
Producers: Tim Dodd and Clare Salisbury.
Programme Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Editor: Martin Smith
THU 17:00 PM (m002rghz)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rgj1)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested
The King's brother is suspected of misconduct in public office. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied wrongdoing. Also: Dame Antonia Romeo has been appointed as Sir Keir Starmer's new Cabinet Secretary. And police in Thailand have gone undercover to arrest a man suspected of stealing thousands of pounds worth of Buddhist artefacts.
THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0023fpt)
Randy Feltface
2. Fire
Randy Feltface is burning to tell you just how much we’re burning ourselves into oblivion. Coming from a hemisphere where deadly fires are an ever-present threat, it’s just so great to see us in the north take a leaf out of that book, roll it up and smoke it. Plus we hear from a Siberian Brown Bear discussing the effect of wildfires on habitat destruction and smoke particles on the Earth’s albedo through the medium of statistics, charts and growling.
This head-on charge into possibly the most important subject facing humanity comes to you via a show where you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn, you’ll laugh again between the learny bits and most of all, you’ll be able to say “I was there when Radio 4 decided to have show hosted by a puppet”.
Randy Feltface has been seen on Netflix, ABC, NBC, and has a huge and devoted following across the globe (1m+ social media followers, 1.6m TikTok followers, 833k subscribers, 79m YouTube views). His hour-long specials are YouTube cult classics, his world tours are sold out sensations, and he's the only Radio 4 presenter to be entirely made of felt.
With Margaret Cabourn-Smith & William Hartley
Produced & directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m002rf03)
Akram’s happy being allocated work in the big polytunnel while Tom and Tony are busy elsewhere. Later though, when Tom calls to check progress, he realises Akram has been digging up the wrong plants. Tony is more forgiving than Tom, suggesting Akram go and fix a leaky tap instead. Tony then has it out with Tom for not taking time to give Akram proper instructions. Despite Tom’s reservations Tony still believes Akram will be an asset to Bridge Farm.
Pip and Stella love the decorations they’ve sorted for the party, but the mood in the Events Barn dips when Josh comes to stock the bar and is immediately snippy with Pip. When Stella goes out Josh raises the issue of a pre-nup, accusing Pip of playing Russian roulette with Brookfield’s future. Josh then outlines Pip’s failures in life and love as reasons not to trust her over the issue. Pip accuses Josh of homophobia, but he reckons it’s about her being a complete flake and sewing things up with David and Ruth behind his back. Josh suggests the timing of her marriage plans could hardly be more convenient to coincide with claiming her inheritance, calling Pip a liar before warning Stella to be careful what she’s hooking herself up to. Once he’s gone Stella comforts tearful Pip, quickly realising the pre-nup idea came from Zach, who has previous for stirring things up. Nevertheless, they agree some sort of arrangement would be a good idea. As for doing something about Josh though, they’ll leave that until after the party.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m002rgj3)
Review: Cynthia Erivo in Dracula, Charli XCX mockumentary, The Secret Agent
Poet, playwright and curator Inua Ellams and film critic Hanna Flint join Tom Sutcliffe for this week's reviews.
Riding high after the huge success of the Wicked films, actor Cynthia Erivo returns to the London stage for a one-woman production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, in which she plays all the parts.
Last summer was dubbed 'brat summer' by the press, with the word 'brat' entering the dictionary as an adjective - all in response to the pop album Brat by singer Charli XCX. In a new mockumentary, The Moment, Charli considers how to follow up on Brat, and how to deal with fame.
And Kleber Mendonça Filho's new film The Secret Agent follows a man caught in the turmoil of the Brazilian military dictatorship. With four Oscar nominations and two BAFTA nominations, it's widely tipped to be one of the big winners in this year's awards season.
Plus authors Hallie Rubenhold and Jason Sanford tell Tom about a new and troubling marketing scam aimed at authors which promise good reviews and then resort to threats when authors do not respond.
Producer: Tim Bano
THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002rdy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Wednesday]
THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002rdy5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:15 on Wednesday]
THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002rd9z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002rgh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rgj5)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is released under investigation after his arrest
He was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office. We hear from our correspondent outside Buckingham Palace, a former press chief in the Royal household, a former Minister who opposed Andrew becoming UK trade envoy, and we look at how the Royal family has recovered from previous crises. Also tonight: scientists have just announced that a unique vaccine they've developed could have universal application against colds, 'flu, bacterial infection and allergies.
THU 22:45 James by Percival Everett (m002rgj7)
9: War
Percival Everett's electrifying re-imagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and winner of 2025's Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Mississippi, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs. Hiding on nearby Jackson Island he tries to formulate a plan. But when his friend Huck Finn arrives with the news that he's faked his own death to escape his violent father, Jim knows he will be blamed. As so begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States and beyond.
Powerful, electrifying and brimming with the dark humour, this multi award-winning novel has already become a modern classic.
Today: Jim finds himself exacting terrible revenge, when he finds out what has happened to his wife and daughter...
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Writer: Percival Everett (born 1956) is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He is the Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams
THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002rgj9)
Social Mobility: How to Break the Link Between Background and Opportunity (Joe Seddon)
Joe Seddon, founder of Zero Gravity, thinks “geography is destiny in the UK” which is why he has built a tech platform to do something about it.
In this week’s episode, Amol and Joe dig into the barriers facing young people across the country, from stalled social mobility to uneven access to opportunity.
Growing up in a single‑parent household in Morley, West Yorkshire, he went on to study at the University of Oxford, but he thinks those opportunities are still too rare for people from a similar background. That’s why his platform connects people from low-opportunity areas with top universities and employers.
But Joe argues that there needs to be “radical transparency” in how university degrees are advertised so people know the value of the course they’re applying to.
And in a blunt message to ambitious people from disadvantaged backgrounds, he admits that the economic reality means that “you should think seriously about leaving your hometown.”
TIMECODES
(
00:03:46) Social mobility in the UK
(
00:11:24) The impact of AI on social mobility
(
00:16:49) Can government policy improve social mobility?
(
00:18:14) The broken social contract for Gen Z
(
00:21:00) Student loan repayments
(
00:27:24) Are too many people going to university?
(
00:30:49) Joe’s RADICAL ideas
(
00:36:19) Joe’s journey from West Yorkshire to Oxford University
(
00:40:37) Accent bias
(
00:46:55) Why “geography is destiny” in the UK
(
00:54:36) What is Zero Gravity?
(
01:36:44) Amol’s reflections
GET IN TOUCH
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by James Piper. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
THU 23:30 Artworks (m0028jll)
Roleplay
Fagin
One big dramatic role. Actors from across the world tell us what the part means and what it means to them. This time: Fagin.
Christopher Eccleston, Omid Djalili and Simon Lipkin tell stories of playing the part of Fagin, revealing how the character has evolved over time. They're joined by Mark Lester, who explains what it was like acting alongside the famous Fagin Ron Moody, and Mark Napolitano who discusses Fagin's performance history.
Fagin was first dreamt up by Charles Dickens in his 1838 work Oliver Twist. Dickens's depiction of the thief and gang leader is controversial, widely criticised for being an anti-Semitic caricature. And when the book was adapted for the screen by David Lean in 1948, Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin provoked a strong reaction from audiences. In the 1960s, a Jewish popular music composer named Lionel Bart decided to adapt the novel for the musical theatre stage. He re-imagined Fagin - helped by the actor who first performed the role, Ron Moody.
Actors who've played the part in recent times tell us Fagin's story and discuss their own performance choices. Simon Lipkin is currently performing the role in Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne's production in the West End - he discusses Fagin's journey through Bart's musical and explores what it's like to play the part as a Jewish actor. Omid Djalili performed the role back in 2009 and says at the time he was a "left-field choice" for the part. He examines why Fagin has endured as a character and explores the comic elements of the role. Christopher Eccleston played Fagin in the CBBC series Dodger, he explores the backstory of Fagin and his relationship with the children in his gang. Mark Lester, who was Oliver in the 1968 film adaptation of the musical, reveals what it was like to act with Ron Moody. And Mark Napolitano, author of Oliver! A Dickensian Musical, tells us how Fagin's final scenes differ greatly between Dickens's book and Bart's musical.
Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio, Bristol
Editor Emma Harding
Mixed by Ilse Lademann
Archive:
Oliver Twist, BBC Radio 2, 16th December 2005
Reader - David Warner
Abridger - Neville Teller
Producer - Neil Gardner
Oliver Twist: 2: Pickpocket!, BBC Radio 4, 10th February 1994
Bill Sykes - Tim McInnerny
Producer - Neil Bryant
The Best of Times - The Worst of Times, Part 1, BBC Radio 4, 17th April 1988
Fagin - Garard Green
Producer - Rosemary Hart
Oliver Twist, BBC TV, 7th January 1962
Fagin - Max Adrian
Oliver - Bruce Prochnik
Producer - Eric Tayler
Scriptwriter - Constance Cox
Oliver Twist, BBC TV, 1st April 1962
Fagin - Max Adrian
Producer - Eric Tayler
Scriptwriter - Constance Cox
Dodger: Episode 1, BBC Two,
Fagin - Christopher Eccleston
Dodger (Jack Dawkins) - Billy Jenkins
Director - Rhys Thomas
Executive Producers - Lucy Montgomery and Rhys Thomas
Additional archive:
The Royal Variety Performance: 1994, BBC One, 3rd December 1994 (featuring Jonathan Pryce as Fagin); Celebrate Oliver!, BBC One, 26th December 2005; The Musical: From Page to Stage, BBC Radio 2, 11th October 2010; Stuart: A Face Backwards, BBC Radio 4, 25th June 2012; Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 29th September 2005 (featuring clips from Oliver Twist [1948], dir. by David Lean featuring Alec Guinness as Fagin); Parkinson: Alec Guinness, BBC Two, 18th December 2007; In Town Tonight, BBC Network Radio, 9th July 1960; Frankly Speaking, BBC Network Radio, 21st June 1961; The Story of Musicals: Episode 1, BBC Four, 3rd January 2012; Opening Nights: 5: Oliver, BBC Radio 4, 9th July 2002; Oliver! [1968] - Official Trailer, dir. Carol Reed, Columbia Pictures; Oliver! [1968], dir. Carol Reed, writers Lionel Bart / Vernon Harris, featuring Mark Lester as Oliver, Ron Moody as Bill Sykes, Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes, Columbia Pictures; Live at the Apollo, BBC One, 21st December 2012; Celebrate Oliver!, BBC One, 26th December 2005 (featuring Ron Moody performing as Fagin - Reviewing the Situation, composed by Lionel Bart).
FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2026
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002rgjc)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 00:30 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rgh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rgjf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rgjh)
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 (m002rgjk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:04 The Briefing Room (m002rghw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rgjm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rgjp)
Costumes and Identity
Good Morning.
I’m starting now to think about a “Spring clean” which usually involves much deliberation of what outfits to keep in my wardrobe and what goes to the charity shop.
At the same time, I’ve come across a number of verses from Guru Arjun in the Sikh scripture, that speaks about “costumes.”
One includes: “People disguise themselves with all sorts of costumes but in the end, they are seen as they truly are.”
My wardrobe has gone through the influence of singers and bands I loved in my teens, such as Siouxsie & the Banshees, the chic style of 1940s movies I loved in my 20s, the incredible creativity and tailoring by designers like Vivienne Westwood & Shelley Fox in my early 30s… until I became a Sikh when my dress changed again and is part of my role as a Chaplain.
But the Guru is calling me to consider the stories we tell ourselves and others, shaping our beliefs and self image, that can be tied into attachments of the past, like the costumes still hanging in my wardrobe I may want to hold onto because my sense of self has been over-invested in them.
So before I do my wardrobe cull, I’m reflecting on how to re-balance my sense of who I am, to recognise that my life experience involves many roles and duties, but ultimately, the true essence of my being that was there in my naked form as a baby, will be the same essence when I lie naked at the end of my life.
Dear God, may I free myself of past identifications and roles that have served their purpose. Please remind me to stay attached and invested in my spiritual identity and for the true nature of this to be the more consistent influence of how I continue to know and present myself in the world more truly.
Sat Naam
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002rgjr)
Charlotte Smith is in Devon to reflect on the impact of the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis 25 years on. Highly contagious foot and mouth disease was confirmed at an Essex abattoir on 19th February 2001. The outbreak which followed led to the slaughter of 6.5 million cattle, sheep, and pigs and cost the UK economy an estimated £8 billion. The emotional cost to farming families was incalculable. Charlotte speaks to the then South West Regional Director of the National Farmers Union, Anthony Gibson, who recalls the 'cataclysm' which hit the farming community. Farming Today's Caz Graham remembers the smell of burning pyres and disinfectant on the air in Cumbria, the worst hit county. She hosted a nightly phone in on BBC Radio Cumbria during the crisis, where callers would share their grief and anger. Charlotte visits Phil Heard's farm on Dartmoor, which got caught up in the controversial 'contiguous cull' policy, in which farms neighbouring confirmed outbreaks of Foot and Mouth would also have their animals compulsorily slaughtered.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling
FRI 06:00 Today (m002rdzl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002rdcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Sunday]
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rdzn)
Rosamund Pike, Ketamine, Author Madeline Cash, Winter Olympics
Rosamund Pike, the Emmy and Golden Globe winner, is known for standout roles in Saltburn, her Oscar nominated lead in Gone Girl, and Made in Dagenham. Next month she stars on the West End stage, coming back to the role of Jessica Parks, the maverick judge at the heart of the National Theatre’s hit play Inter Alia, also filmed for NT Live screenings. She joins Anita Rani to discuss her role that explores motherhood, masculinity and the complexities of justice.
Ketamine has become a worryingly popular recreational drug among young people, and the consequences can be devastating. That's according to a specialist NHS clinic which reports that some teenagers suffer such severe bladder damage from taking it, that some rely on incontinence pads. To discuss the implications, Anita is joined by Dr Alison Downey, Consultant Urologist at Mid Staffs NHS Foundation Trust, who is treating young people with ketamine related bladder problems. They are also joined by Fay Maloney, Director of The Lifeboat Recovery Community Hub, along with Eva, who has stopped using ketamine and is receiving support from the hub.
The American writer Madeline Cash has just published her debut novel Lost Lambs — already an instant bestseller — and she’s only 29. She won high praise from Lena Dunham, who has called her ‘a voice like no other’. Lost Lambs follows the Flynn family — parents Bud and Catherine and their three teenage daughters — whose decision to open their marriage plunges the household into chaos.
As the Winter Olympics comes to a close, BBC sports reporter Katie Falkingham joins Anita to discuss the standout female athletes and record breaking performances.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002rdzq)
Chefs, Creativity and the Cost of Living Crisis
In this edition Sheila Dillon explores the creativity of chefs, and asks how it’s being affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis. For Sheila, creativity in cooking is one of the pleasures we often take for granted when we go out to eat, and marvels at the alchemy chefs work with raw ingredients. But the hospitality industry is grappling with very difficult economic conditions - increased national insurance, business rates, energy bills, rent, cost of ingredients coupled with fewer customers with less money to spend, all mean that many restaurants are struggling to survive. According to the latest data from the Hospitality Market Monitor by NIQ, restaurant closures accelerated in the last three months of 2025 to nearly 19 businesses a week. What happens to that creativity when the industry is under so much pressure?
In the programme chefs talk to Sheila about what creativity looks like in their kitchens at the moment, as the cost crisis leads to more restrictions on how and what they cook. We also hear how chefs of the future are being trained to work creatively in this tough environment. We hear from: Sam Lomas, Head Chef at Briar in Somerset; Owen Morgan, co-founder and owner of Forty-Four group; Charlie Buchanan-Smith, co-founder of The Free Company near Edinburgh; Niall McKenna, owner of James St and Waterman House in Belfast; Frank Fiore, Catering Manager at Milton Keynes University Hospital; Chantal Symons, Lead Development Chef at LEON Restaurants; and chef-lecturers Steve Oram and Ian Sutton and students at Capital City College at Westminster.
Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.
FRI 11:45 Other by Leïla Slimani (m002rdzs)
Episode 5: The myths of motherhood
In a series of five essays, award-winning novelist Leïla Slimani reflects on otherness. From her arrival in Paris as an immigrant from Morocco to her experience of motherhood, it’s an exploration that is central to her identity and writing. She examines the wide-ranging influence of the theme on her life, her thinking and her engagement with the world.
In her final essay, Leïla tackles motherhood, which she describes as one of the most vertiginous encounters with otherness. She considers her own conflicts with the demands of motherhood – from the loss of freedom to the expectations of society – and how she has explored the subject in her novels, questioning the myths of being a mother. It is a revealing meditation on the physical, social and political experiences of motherhood.
Leïla Slimani was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, in 2016 for her novel Lullaby. Her other novels include The Country of Others and Adèle.
Presenter: Leïla Slimani
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Sara Davies
Sound Engineer: Jon Calver
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002rdzv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m002rdzx)
Looksmaxxing
Peace talks for the culture wars. Adam looks at the dark art of looksmaxxing, asking what is it, where does it come from and why has it been growing online?
Adam gets a glossary of the terms around this trend. He hears how social media is influencing beauty standards. And we find out about "pretty privilege."
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: John Murphy, Natasha Fernandes and Annabel Deas.
Studio manager: Jack Wilfan
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy
FRI 12:57 Weather (m002rdzz)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m002rf01)
Police continue to search Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former home
Police continue to search Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former home Royal Lodge. David Dimbleby reflects on the impact this scandal will have on the monarchy.
FRI 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvxk)
Impulsive
5. Restless
Lisa has Restless Legs Syndrome - it feels like her legs are on fire and they keep moving around. It’s affecting her sleep, so she’s pleased to hear that there’s a treatment: a commonly used Parkinson’s medication called Pramipexole. The prescriber doesn’t mention any side effects.
But Lisa’s dosage of Pramipexole keeps increasing as her symptoms keep returning, and she starts behaving in ways that feel out of character. After an argument with her husband, she starts an affair with a man she meets online. Soon she’s meeting strangers for sex.
And even while her personality’s changing, her condition keeps getting worse…
Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.
Presenter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Matt Willis
A BBC News Long Form Audio production
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m002rf03)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002qvjy)
Wolf Valley
Episode 5
The tragic impact of a crime still echoes through Wolf Valley. But it’s not what Lena expects.
Wolf Valley is in the grip of a major storm as Lena leads a desperate search for the missing child. As the community rallies, unsettling discoveries hint at old wounds and long-buried resentments that are beginning to surface. With the past and present colliding in a murderous conspiracy, a last vital revelation sets Lena off on a race against time to prevent the killer from claiming his next victim…
The powerful conclusion to Wolf Valley, a noir thriller set within a Nordic fjord valley fractured by devastating secrets and long-ago tragedy.
LENA - Amrita Acharia
AKSEL - David Menkin
MAGNUS - Eirik Knutsvik
HENRIK - Øystein Lode
VIDAR - Sigurd Myhre
EVA - Ingvild Lakou
ANNETTE - Sarah Whitehouse
SUSANNA - Ingrid Werner
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 Life Without (m002rf05)
Life Without Rats
Surely a world without the rodents we look to exterminate anyway would be fine? In this episode of Life Without, our host Alan Davies thinks about how our cities might look if all the rats were removed.
From the sewers in mega cities to the barren countryside, rats are highly adaptable, but what happens when we remove them from their hiding spots? Are we pest-free and will hygiene ratings in restaurants go up? Or will losing them have an impact on all our major scientific break throughs, as rats are regularly used to test drugs that we may consume.
This episode features Steven Belmain a Professor of Ecology and the Centre Leader for Sustainable Agriculture at the Natural Resources Institute; and Joe Shute, a nature writer, journalist, and the author of Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat.
An ITN production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002rf07)
Chaldon
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Chaldon.
Peter's joined by Anne Swithinbank, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage.
This week the panel take on a wide range of gardening dilemmas, from how to reach into borders without treading on emerging plants, to which colourful plants thrive in shady, chalky soil. When it comes to growing veg, the team also has answers on whether leaving weeds in place can help crops during extreme heat, and tips on non‑chemical approaches to protecting cabbages and sprouts from hungry pests.
The panellists also discuss how their plant recommendations have changed over the years, and which plants they now avoid altogether!
Later in the show, we hear from Peter’s visit to RHS Wisley where he spoke with RHS Chief Horticultural Advisor, Guy Barter, and Botanist and Taxonomist, Dr Kálmán Könyves to follow up on last year’s Daffodil diaries scheme.
Producer: Matthew Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002rf09)
Thief by Tahmima Anam
In the award winning writer Tahmima Anam's new story Shafiq learns an unexpected lesson during his sister's opulent wedding celebrations. The reader is Gavi Singh Chera.
Tahmima Anam is the author of the Bengal trilogy and a recipient of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book and the O. Henry Award. Her short story 'Garments' was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2016. She is a Granta Best of Young British Novelists and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
The producer is Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002rf0c)
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Diane Munday, Philippe Gaulier, Lady Jean Wilson
Kirsty Lang on
Reverend Jesse Jackson the leading American civil rights campaigner.
Diane Munday who fought to make abortion legal and co-founded the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.
Philippe Gaulier whose internationally renowned clown school which helped to shape the careers of many leading actors.
Lady Jean Wilson who travelled the world building a charity that cured millions of avoidable blindness
Interviewee: Lord Woolley of Woodford
Interviewee: Sally Phillips
Interviewee: Cal McCrystal
Interviewee: Caroline Harper
Interviewee: Andrew Copson
Producer: Catherine Powell
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan
Editor: Glyn Tansley
FRI 16:30 Sideways (m002rdxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m002rf0f)
US Supreme Court strikes down President Trump's Tariffs
The US Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority by using a law reserved for national emergencies in order to push through his global trade tariffs. We explain what it means and speak to Stephen Moore, a former economic advisor in Trump's first term. Also: the Metropolitan Police says it is contacting former and current protection officers to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. And, as GB curlers go for gold in Italy, we look at how the sport is growing at home.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rf0h)
The Supreme Court rules Donald Trump's global tariffs are illegal
The Supreme Court has ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs on dozens of countries using a law meant for national emergencies. Also: The government is considering legislating to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the throne. And Nasa says it's aiming for early March to launch its Artemis II moon mission.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002rf0k)
Series 119
7. The worst birthday ever
Top of the agenda this week is some royal breaking news - who got a special birthday visit from the police? We’ll be analysing yet another government U-turn and see who’s emerged from the shadows for Nigel Farage’s proposed ‘shadow cabinet'. Plus a couple of stories on robots and aliens - something for everyone.
Joining Andy this week is Mark Steel, Daliso Chaponda, Coco Khan and Bella Hull.
Written by Andy Zaltzman.
With additional material by: Jade Gebbie, Ruth Husko and Peter Tellouche.
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002rf0m)
It’s early doors at the engagement party when Zach joins Stella, who makes him apologise to Josh for stirring things up over the pre-nup. Josh accepts he went too far having a go at Pip, but says he’s not staying for the party. Pip hopes Rex might meet a prospective girlfriend tonight, but Rex suggests that issue might already be settled, though it’s complicated and could still go badly wrong… Pip thinks Rex should go for it anyway. Pip and Josh then have an awkward exchange about Carol Tregorran’s tenancy at Glebe Cottage, before Josh apologises for taking out his feelings on Pip. He tells her he’s going to look for work on a farm overseas. Pip’s stunned and thinks David and Ruth will be devastated. Josh points out they’ve both worked abroad in the past, hoping they’ll understand. But it’s his life and he feels he’s got nothing to lose.
Zach teases unamused Lynda about her Speedwatch activities, before she puts him in his place. Ruth makes a speech welcoming Stella into the family, raising a toast to the happy couple. Later, Pip and Stella tell Zach that Josh is leaving. Stella feels Zach is partly to blame for stirring things up, but unrepentant Zach feels it could be good for Josh, even if he hasn’t completely made up with Pip.
Rex and Alice have an awkward dance together, Pip and Stella a better one, agreeing to set a date for their wedding. Inspired by this Rex and Alice clear up their misunderstanding and agree to go on a date.
FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002rf0p)
Errollyn Wallen and Richard Stilgoe head to Nashville
Composer Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King's Music, and lyricist and musician Richard Stilgoe, join Jeffrey and Anna as they add five more tracks to the playlist, taking us from the Nashville Sound to Dublin rock via New Zealand.
Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind by Dolly Parton & Chet Atkins
Tre sbirri, una carrozza...Te Deum by Giacomo Puccini
Sober by Lorde
Memory by Elaine Paige
With Love by Thin Lizzy
Other music in this episode:
Gypsy Sahara by Taraf de Haïdouks & Kočani Orkestar
The Outside by Taylor Swift
Four Walls by Jim Reeves
Oh Lonesome Me by Don Gibson
Royals by Lorde
Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore
The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002rf0r)
Simon Hoare MP, Anne McElvoy, Layla Moran MP, Luke Pollard MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Chittlehampton Village Hall in North Devon with the Conservative MP Simon Hoare, who chairs the Commons public administration & constitutional affairs committee; the executive editor of Politico and host of its Politics At Sam and Anne's podcast, Anne McElvoy; Liberal Democrat MP and chair of the health & social care committee of MPs, Layla Moran; and the defence minister, Labour's Luke Pollard MP.
Producer: Paul Martin
Assistant producer: Lowri Morgan
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Lead broadcast engineer: Caitlin Gazeley
Editor: Glyn Tansley
FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002rdxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:40 on Wednesday]
FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002rf0t)
Crime and punishment medieval to modern
How have attitudes to punishment changed over time, and what ideas about the rationale for punishment are circulating today? In Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme, Matthew Sweet and guests explore the criminal justice system through history.
With:
Stephanie Brown, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull and BBC / AHRC New Generation Thinker on the scheme which puts research on radio
Scout Tzofiya Bolton, poet and broadcaster who presents on National Prison Radio, and for Radio 4 the Illuminated episode called The Ballad of Scout and the Alcohol Tag. Her poetry collection is called The Mad Art of Doing Time
Joanna Hardy-Susskind, criminal barrister and presenter for Radio 4 of a series called You Do Not Have To Say Anything
Stephen Shapiro, Professor of American Literature at the University of Warwick
Jonathan Sumption, former Supreme Court judge and now Moral Maze panellist for BBC Radio 4 and author of a five-volume account of The Hundred Years War
Producer: Eliane Glaser
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rf0w)
Trump tariffs frustrated by US Supreme Court
With a 6-3 majority, the Supreme Court ruled President Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs via a law reserved for national emergencies. The president has used Nixon-era legislation to impose new, albeit temporary, tariffs.
Also on the programme: the BBC understands the government is considering legislation to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the royal line of succession.
And we hear from the scientist behind our ‘nature notes’ series. What does the habit of observing the natural world give us in return?
FRI 22:45 James by Percival Everett (m002rf0y)
10: Angel of Death
The final part of Percival Everett's electrifying re-imagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and winner of 2025's Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Mississippi, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs. Hiding on nearby Jackson Island he tries to formulate a plan. But when his friend Huck Finn arrives with the news that he's faked his own death to escape his violent father, Jim knows he will be blamed. As so begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive promise of the Free States and beyond.
Powerful, shocking, and brimming with the dark humour, this multi award-winning novel has already become a modern classic.
Today: When Jim finally finds his wife and daughter on a breeding farm in Missouri, he demands justice.
Reader: Rhashan Stone
Writer: Percival Everett (born 1956) is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He is the Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Producer: Justine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams
FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8bz5)
Who is Tucker Carlson and what does he tell us about the future of MAGA?
Who are the people shaping MAGA ideology in the US? Tucker Carlson’s story tells a larger one about just how much conservative media has changed in the United States, and the direction of conservatism itself.
Jason Zengerle, New Yorker staff writer and author of ‘Hated by All the Right People’, joins us to map Tucker Carlson’s trajectory from centre-right talk show host to one of the most prominent figures in the MAGA movement, with the ear of the president and a knack for gauging the mood of the base.
Anthony and Justin discuss Carlson and the future of the conservative movement, as well as the other prominent figures spearheading it. Where is the Make America Great Again movement going - and who will lead it after Trump?
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
GUEST:
Jason Zengerle, Staff Writer at the New Yorker and Author, ‘Hated By All The Right People’
GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
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• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
This episode was made by Rufus Gray, Grace Reeve and Kris Jalowiecki. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.
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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.
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FRI 23:30 Artworks (m0028stt)
Roleplay
Blanche DuBois
One big dramatic role. Actors tell us what the part means and what it means to them. This time: Blanche DuBois.
Cate Blanchett and Patsy Ferran describe what it's like to play Blanche - a captivating, so-called Southern Belle from the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She's fragile, flirtatious, a lover of poetry. We first meet her when she comes to stay with her sister in New Orleans. Later in the play, she falls victim to sexual violence.
Cate and Patsy are joined by Kirsty Stuart, in the middle of rehearsals for the play, Marge Hendrick, who played Blanche in a ballet version, and Gwendolyn Foxworth, a community actor from New Orleans. Nancy Schoenberger explores the roots of the role.
Since her debut on Broadway in 1947, Blanche DuBois has captivated audiences. Cate Blanchett says playing the role changed the course of her life and her career. She sees Blanche as a symbol for big ideas - concepts of poetry and brutality - and reveals how much Blanche has stayed with her. Patsy Ferran won plaudits for her portrayal of the part on the West End stage in 2023 - she dives into key passages from the play.
Tennessee Williams set the play in New Orleans, near the French Quarter, an area that Gwendolyn Foxworth knows well. Marge Hendrick, who starred in Scottish Ballet's version of the play, explores the difficulty of playing some of Blanche's most painful scenes and we join Kirsty Stuart in the middle of rehearsals for Pitlochry Festival Theatre's adaptation. Nancy Schoenberger, author of Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee WIlliams' Blanche DuBois, examines Blanche's roots and Vivien Leigh's famous performance of the part.
Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio, Bristol
Edited by Emma Harding
Mixed by Suzy Robins
Archive:
Drama on 3, A Streetcar Named Desire, BBC Radio 3, 26th March 2017
Director - Sasha Yevtushenko
Blanche - Anne-Marie Duff
Stanley - Matthew Needham
Mitch - John Heffernan
Sunday Play: A Streetcar Named Desire, BBC Radio 3, 14th June 1998
Producer - Martin Jenkins
Blanche - Glenne Headley
Stella - Amy Brenneman
Additional archive:
Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 16th January 2023 (featuring Patsy Ferran as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Almeida Theatre, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, 2023); Kaleidoscope Feature: A Temporary Enchantment, BBC Radio 4, 23rd November 1996 (featuring archive from A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized), Rosemary Harris as Blanche, James Farentino as Stanley, Caedmon, 1975); Changing Stages, BBC Two, 19th November 2000 (featuring archive from A Streetcar Named Desire [1951], Warner Bros. directed by Elia Kazan, starring Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois); Omnibus: Claire Bloom, BBC TV, 3rd March 1974; Frankly Speaking, BBC Network Radio, 2nd August 1959; Frost Over America: Tennessee Williams, BBC TV, 15th July 1970; In Town Tonight, BBC Network Radio, 6th August 1960; Music from Scottish Ballet's adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, 2012, composed by Peter Salem.