SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2026

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002rf11)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 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


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rf13)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rf15)
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 (m002rf17)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rf19)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rf1c)
Bedtime or Wake-up time?

Good morning – whether it’s the start of your day, or the end of a long night. Whether your shift is just over or just begun.

I’ve had jobs where it could be either. As a stand-up comedian, it’s lots of late nights and driving cross-country. I once performed at a student ball, where my stage-time was 3am. And I was one of the early acts! The headliner went on at 4:30am – not your standard comedy show, to have the rising sun add to your stage lighting.

I got home from that gig at about 5am, and while that was a rarity, it’s quite usual for me to quietly sneak up the stairs at 1 or 2 in the morning, trying not to wake the kids.

But I wear other hats. For a while I presented an early morning live radio show, an hour’s drive away. For that shift, I’d leave home at about 3am. My wife found it highly confusing. Sometimes, middle of the night, she’d hear me on the landing, and sleepily ask if I was just getting in or just going out.

So if that’s you, if you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, or even if you know full well that this is always your wake-up call or your bedtime, I pray that God looks out for you as you rise, as you rest, off to work or done with work. May you be blessed in all you do in the day ahead, whether your next hours are full of chores or snores. And I give thanks for all who keep the world ticking over, thanks to early alarms or late pillows. Bless you today.

Amen


SAT 05:45 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


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002rq5q)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SAT 06:07 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


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002rq5s)
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak, which caused devastation to thousands of farms across the country. Around 6.5 million animals were culled, with a cost to the UK economy of £8 billion. Charlotte Smith meets a farmer whose animals were destroyed in the outbreak, and speaks to UK Chief Vet Christine Middlemiss about the risk of another outbreak - and whether the response would be different.

The issue of biosecurity at our ports has been in the spotlight in recent months. Dover Port Health Authority announced its highest ever monthly total of seizures of illegal meat - finding 34 tonnes of it in January. We hear from chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee Alistair Carmichael MP, who gives us his reaction to the latest figures.

Sheep shearing is an international business, with skilled shearers travelling the world to work across different countries. Many shearers who come to the UK are from Australia and New Zealand and have previously been allowed entry into the country each year via a special concession for highly skilled workers. This year, the UK Home Office has decided not to give this special temporary access. The National Association of Agricultural Contractors say these shearers are essential to the farming industry, and are warning that sheep welfare may be compromised without them.

Farm vets are vital to any livestock business, but there's a shortage of vets wanting to work on farms. We join a cattle vet on a visit to a Wiltshire farm to hear about her role and Charlotte speaks to BVA president Rob Williams, who explains some of the reasons behind the shortage.

Farming Today This Week was presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m002rq5v)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m002rq5x)
Today (Saturday)


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m002rq5z)
Jack Thorne, Hostage Negotiation, Family History and the Inheritance Tracks of Marian Keyes

Jack Thorne joins Adrian for extraordinary stories from remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m002rq61)
History of Spices: commerce, colonialism and culinary innovation

Greg Jenner is joined by historian Dr David Veevers and comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha to learn all about the global history of spices and the spice trade. Nowadays, we take spices for granted, and our kitchen cabinets are full of ginger and cinnamon, cumin and coriander, pepper and nutmeg. But despite their contemporary status as a staple of diets around the world, the majority of spices are native only to Asia (barring notable exceptions like chilli peppers). In this episode, we tell the story of how spices went global, from the very earliest days of the spice trade within Asia, through the empires of Alexander the Great and Rome as spices made their way into Europe, and into the colonial period, as the Dutch and British East India Companies vied to monopolise this lucrative trade. Along the way, we focus on five of the most commonly traded spices – pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and chilli – asking how their use changed across time, and as they were traded from place to place. From pharaohs possibly being embalmed with cinnamon, to medieval kings demanding rent in peppercorns, and nutmeg as a cure for plague, we look at the varied uses to which people all over the world have put these precious and expensive commodities.

If you’re a fan of food fads of the past, histories of globalisation and cultural exchange, and surprising ancient beliefs, you’ll love our episode on the History of Spices.

If you want to learn more about the history of commodities, listen to our episodes on the history of chocolate or coffee. And for more on global trade, check out our episode on the Columbian Exchange.

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: Emma Mitchell and Adam Simcox
Written by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002rq63)
Series 51

University College London

Jay Rayner and the panel are at the Institute of Making at University College London. Joining Jay to answer questions from an audience of keen home cooks are chefs and food writers Melissa Thompson, Jocky Petrie, Tim Anderson and, on home turf, materials expert Dr Zoe Laughlin.

The panel discuss the trials and tribulations of fermentation at home, the Peruvian delicacy involving bacteria from feet, and whether Jocky's knife collection is excessive. Later in the show, Zoe puts the noisiest of foods to the test with her very own UCL food 'choir' to assess which lunches make the loudest crunches.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 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.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002rq66)
Ukraine: Four years of war

Kate Adie introduces stories from Ukraine, Iran, the United States and India.

February marks four years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Around 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in that time and a large number are considered officially missing. Sarah Rainsford has witnessed the war since the beginning, and on her latest visit to Ukraine she met soldiers and civilians who shared stories of grief, resistance and a desire for peace.

The Iranian government recently put on a show of strength to mark the anniversary of the revolution that saw the return from exile of Ayatollah Khomeini - and the dawn of the Islamic Republic. But 47 years on, Iran has once again experienced widespread unrest, as millions of people took to the streets in nationwide anti-government protests. Lyse Doucet was recently given rare permission to report from Tehran, on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian Service.

February is traditionally Black History Month in the United States – and this year marks 100 years since the country’s first black history commemorations. Lindsay Johns recently embarked on a road trip across the Deep South, beginning at the Alma Mater of Martin Luther King in Atlanta.

BBC Budapest correspondent Nick Thorpe found himself in northern India recently when he got the news that Sir Mark Tully – long-regarded as 'the voice of the BBC' in India, had passed away. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Sir Mark as a 'towering voice of journalism'. Here, Nick pays his own tribute to Mark – and his interest in human fate, and faith.

Producer: Emma Close
Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002rq68)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002rq6b)
Claims management firms have been warned by regulators to treat their customers fairly over compensation claims for mis-sold car finance. The financial regulator is set to announce its own free-to-use scheme for the millions of people who could be due compensation because the car finance deals they signed up to were mis-sold.
Private claims management firms, which have already taken on many claims, can take as much as 40% of any compensation eventually paid out.
The warning from the regulator includes telling consumers to guard against large charges to pull out of their claim, so-called exit fees, if they wish to switch to the free scheme.

And, if you've been shopping online recently you may have been asked to eschew your usual credit-card payment in favour of a new way to hand over your money: pay by bank. By cutting out the credit or debit card middlemen, you'll be saving the retailer some cost from payment fees. But what's in it for the online shopper - apart from having to put up with weaker consumer protection?

Also, the savings and investment divide between those who are, and aren't, using the tax-free benefits of a junior ISA and the new figures which show how online scammers are targeting those who are trying to improve their personal finances.

Photo credit: Tim Goode/PA Wire


SAT 12:30 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.


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002rq6d)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002rq6g)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 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


SAT 14:05 Any Answers? (m002rq6j)
Listeners respond to the issues raised in the preceding edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002rf0m)
Writer: Keri Davies
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Josh Archer … Angus Imrie
Pip Archer …Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Tony Archer … David Troughton
Tom Archer … William Troughton
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
Rex Fairbrother … Nick Barber
Akram Malik … Asif Khan
Stella Pryor … Lucy Speed
Hannah Riley … Helen Longworth
Lynda Snell … Carole Boyd
Zach Pryor … Alex Austin


SAT 15:00 Secrets and Lies (m002rq6l)
Double Exposure

Ernest Withers was a key photographer in the Civil Rights movement. During the Emmet Till trial, Withers took the photo that was said to inspire Rosa Parks. He took those first photos of Martin Luther King on a desegregated Montgomery bus, he photographed the Little Rock Nine, the March Against Fear and the Sanitation Workers Strike. His photos carried the story, he was at the heart of the movement...everywhere. He was also working for The FBI.

Sol B River’s documentary drama explores the man, the motivations and key images in the history of the movement, reflecting light on the volatile world of Southern USA in the 1950s and 60s.

CAST

Ernest Withers - Steve Toussaint
Dorothy Withers- Ayesha Antoine
Agent Lawrence - John Schwab
Clarence Strider - Nathan Osgood
Alex Wilson - Patrick Robinson
Charles Cabbage - Andre Revels
Coby Smith - Gabin Kongolo
Margaret Lawrence - Ashleigh Haddad
Betty Lawrence - Dakota Jueguen

Production Co-ordinator: Lindsay Rees
Sound Design: Rhys Morris
Producer: John Norton

A BBC Audio Wales Production


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002rq6n)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Rosamund Pike, Nadiya Hussain, Gisele Pelicot memoir, Dr Punam Krishan, Ketamine & young people

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 joined Anita Rani to discuss her role that explores motherhood, masculinity and the complexities of justice.

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 joined presenter Clare McDonnell to talk about finding comfort in food, her career so far and lots more.

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. She has written her memoir, A Hymn to Life, with writer Judith Perrignon and Judith joins Nuala McGovern to discuss.

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 joined Anita to discuss.

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 was joined by Dr Alison Downey, Consultant Urologist at Mid Staffs NHS Foundation Trust, who is treating young people with ketamine related bladder problems. Also joining them is Eva, who has stopped using ketamine and is receiving support from the hub.

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 joined Nuala and performed live in the studio.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells


SAT 17:00 PM (m002rq6q)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002rq6s)
'We're appeasing the tech bros': Beeban Kidron, from film-maker to lawmaker

What links Bridget Jones to social media regulation?

The answer: Baroness Beeban Kidron. In 2004 she directed the Bridget Jones sequal. 20 years later, she became one of the most vocal campaigners for regulation of social media and tech in the UK.

She joins Nick in the Political Thinking studio to tell her story, from joining Marxist dinner parties in her childhood home, to filming and living with the protesters of Greenham Common in the 1980s.

Today, she has strong words for Keir Starmer's government, and is pushing for law-changes from her seat in the House of Lords.

Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Flora Murray
Editor: Giles Edwards


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002rq6v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m002rq6x)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rq6z)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m002rq71)
Lucy Beaumont, Gizzi Erskine, Alasdair Beckett-King, Jonny Balchandani, Jesca Hoop & Lail Arad with The Songs of Joni Mitchell

Joining Stuart for this week's Loose Ends are...

Comedian and actress Lucy Beaumont who's starring in the play that, 40 years ago, inspired her mum to become a writer.

Chef and broadcaster Gizzi Erskine with tales of members of The Damned being left with Courtney Love's baby.

Comedian Alasdair Beckett-King on the good old days of landline phones and pop tarts.

Jonny Balchandani, known to his huge social media following as the Bearded Plantaholic, tells us how he covertly turned his wife's office into a living, breathing jungle.

And there's music from Jesca Hoop and Lail Arad as they perform Morning Morgantown and Big Yellow Taxi from their show The Songs of Joni Mitchell.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Elizabeth Foster


SAT 19:00 Profile (m002rq73)
Gavin Newsom

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has long clashed with US President Donald Trump - filing more than 50 lawsuits against the administration to date.

Now, with a new memoir coming out, all signs seem to be pointing at Newsom himself running for the top job in 2028.

Born in San Francisco in 1967, Newsom lived in two worlds - the first, among the wealth and glamour of his father’s friends, the billionaire Getty family, often joining them on luxury trips abroad. The second was a modest home provided by his working single mother, attending the local public school where he struggled with dyslexia.

After launching a successful wine and hospitality business, with backing from the Gettys, Newsom now has two stints as Mayor of San Francisco and two as Governor of California under his belt, and looks to be eyeing up a possible presidential run for the Democrats.

So who exactly is the man once known as ‘Mayor McHottie’ by his fans and ‘Newscum’ by the Trump administration?

Production Team:
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Keiligh Baker and Katie Solleveld
Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Katie Morrison and Gemma Ashman
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Justine Lang

Archive
CNN
Middle East Eye
AP
NBC
LA Times
CBS


SAT 19:15 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


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b05v6d35)
The Choke

The journalist, author and Olympian Matthew Syed blew it big time at the Sydney 2000. A GB medal prospect in table tennis, he was thrashed by an opponent he had beaten many times before - he choked. He's been keen to understand ever since why sometimes the brain robs an individual of the ability to do routine tasks - in his case to hit a ping pong ball on the table.

You don't have to be a world class sportsman to choke. Think of that job interview you fluffed or that wildly attractive person at a party that left you unable to do what you do every day - speak coherently.

In The Choke, Matthew will explore the neurological and psychological trajectory of a choke illustrated with some dramatic examples where the pressure told at the worst possible time- musicians, politicians, businessmen, actors and sportsmen all feature in this examination of when we fail to do what comes naturally to us.


SAT 21:00 Shadow World (m002s1n1)
Impulsive: Omnibus (part 1)

Early in 2025, BBC Investigations Correspondent Noel Titheradge published his first story about a category of prescription drug with unusual side effects.

People who take dopamine agonist drugs for conditions like Parkinson’s disease or Restless Legs Syndrome often report impulse control disorders - problems with gambling, compulsive eating or shopping, or hypersexuality.

He wasn’t expecting the response. After that first article was published more than 200 people got in touch - that’s me, they said, that’s my partner, that’s my dad.

So Noel started digging.

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.


SAT 22:00 News (m002rq75)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 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.


SAT 23:00 Sikisa's Border Control (m002rq77)
How does British immigration law actually work? A lot of people have strong opinions, but award-winning comedian Sikisa knows more about it than most, because for the last 15 years she's also been a working immigration lawyer.

In this one-off episode, she explores what happens when someone in Britain wants to marry someone who isn't from Britain - how easy is it to marry the person you love and have them move in with you?

Written and performed by Sikisa
Additional material by Sid Singh
Script edited by Katie Story

Guest interviewee: Abigoliah Shamaun

Recorded by Hamish Campbell at the Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh
Edited by David Thomas

Photo credit: Corinne Cumming

Produced by Ed Morrish
Executive producer: Lyndsay Fenner

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 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

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2026

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002rq79)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:15 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 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rq7c)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rq7f)
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 (m002rq7h)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rq7k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002rq7m)
St Nicholas church, Durweston in Dorset

Bells on Sunday comes from St Nicholas church, Durweston in Dorset. The church was largely rebuilt in the mid-19th century but retained its 15th century tower. There are six bells, one surviving from the late 14th century and five that were recast in 1911 by the Gillett and Johnston foundry of Croydon. The Tenor weighs nine and three-quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of F sharp. We hear them now ringing Call Changes


SUN 05:45 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.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m002rq7s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 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


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m002rq7v)
Transition Turriefield

At over a hundred miles north east of the Scottish mainland, Shetland is kept supplied with food by the daily boats from Aberdeen. But as food security and the effects of climate change become ever more uncertain, one couple have been working hard to ensure that communities maintain access to healthy food. For nearly two decades, Penny Armstrong and Alan Robertson have been running the social enterprise Transition Turriefield from their croft on the west side of Shetland.

This far north, the weather and light can create real challenges to growing food. They’ve had to adapt to strong winds and short days whilst keeping the environmental impact of growing food to a minimum. They keep their operation local, providing veg boxes to local communities with the help of volunteers.

The croft has become a centre for learning how to grow your own food on Shetland, volunteers applying their news skills in their own polytunnels. Since setting up Transition Turriefield, Penny and Alan have received grants to run a range of education and training programmes to help people to grow their own food, ensure access to affordable, healthy food. Yet this important work is proving to be financially unviable, relying on grants to continue. Penny and Alan discuss the sustainability of the financial model and their thoughts for the future.

Presented and produced by Rose Ferraby


SUN 06:57 Weather (m002rq7x)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m002rq7z)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m002rq81)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rq83)
Encephalitis International

Actor Jemma Redgrave makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Encephalitis International. The charity raises awareness, drives research, and offers support groups for families who have been affected by the condition.

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 ‘Encephalitis International’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Encephalitis International'
- 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: 1087843, in Scotland SC048210. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://www.encephalitis.info
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m002rq85)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m002rq87)
The news headlines, including a look at the newspapers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m002rq89)
A Journey Through Lent - Not by Bread Alone

Sunday Worship celebrating the Holy Eucharist on this first Sunday in Lent, from the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool, led by Monsignor Anthony O’Brien, the Dean of the Cathedral, the preacher is the Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev John Sherrington.

Music:

Forty Days and Forty Nights

Kyrie (Mass for four voices - Byrd)

Responsorial Psalm (CHOIR)

Call to Remembrance - Farrant

Sanctus (Mass for four voices - Byrd)

Angus Dei (Mass for four voices - Byrd)

Again We Keep This Solemn Fast

The Metropolitan Cathedral Choir was directed by Christopher
McElroy and the organist was Richard Lea. The producer was Carmel Lonergan.

The Metropolitan Cathedral Choir was directed by Christopher
McElroy and the organist was Richard Lea.

Producer: Carmel Lonergan.

Audio North Production.


SUN 08:48 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 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m002rq8c)
Liz Berry on the Wren

Poet Liz Berry lived near the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve in the Black Country for years, but it was only recently that she stopped and listened to a real wren there. It made her think how the bird was hiding in the place name, which is one of Britain's most important geological sites. The wren's latin name Troglodytes troglodytes means 'cave-dweller', reminding Liz of the folk that used to work in the mines that have shaped the Wren's Nest landscape.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m002rq8f)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m002rq8h)
Roula Khalaf, journalist

Roula Khalaf is a journalist and the first woman to serve as editor of the Financial Times in its 132‑year history. She joined the paper in 1995 as North Africa correspondent, covering the Algerian civil war before reporting more broadly across the Middle East, including Syria, Iran and Iraq, and later the Arab Spring.

Roula was born in Beirut and grew up there during the Lebanese civil war which began in 1975. She studied communications at Syracuse University in New York State and then completed a Master’s degree in International Affairs at Columbia University.

She joined Forbes Magazine in 1989 before relocating to the UK. Her work has earned several awards, including Foreign Commentator of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment in 2016 Awards and the Foreign Press Association’s Feature Story of the Year for her reporting on Qatar in 2013.

Roula has two children with her husband Assaad and lives in London.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m002rq8k)
Writer: Keri Davies
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Josh Archer … Angus Imrie
Pip Archer …Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer … Felicity Finch
Tony Archer … David Troughton
Tom Archer … William Troughton
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
Rex Fairbrother … Nick Barber
Akram Malik … Asif Khan
Stella Pryor … Lucy Speed
Hannah Riley … Helen Longworth
Lynda Snell … Carole Boyd
Zach Pryor … Alex Austin


SUN 12:15 Profile (m002rq73)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 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.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m002rq8m)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m002rq8p)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m002rq8r)
Someone Else's Problem: Exporting the Housing Crisis

In cities across the country, councils are grappling with unprecedented numbers of people presenting as homeless. In London, mounting pressure on temporary accommodation has led some boroughs to place families far beyond the capital — in some cases more than 250 miles away, in County Durham.

Charlotte McDonald travels to the North East to uncover why these long‑distance relocations are happening, and what impact they are having on the communities receiving them.

She speaks to people about lives uprooted, often with little notice, and explores the realities they face as they try to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar towns and villages.

The picture on the ground is complex. Local services, charities, churches and schools have rallied to support the newcomers, despite already operating in areas marked by deprivation and limited opportunities.

Yet many relocated families encounter fresh challenges: anti‑social behaviour, culture shock, and the struggle to settle into communities facing their own hardships.

County Durham had a Labour council for nearly a century, but it is now controlled by Reform. Many residents feel the area has been overlooked for years: traditional industries have faded, and little new investment has taken their place. Unemployment is high in parts of the county, as well as rates of long-term sick.

With low‑cost housing and pockets of empty properties, the region has become increasingly attractive to councils which are struggling to find accommodation. But is it the right thing for old and new residents?

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Tom Burgess
Studio manager: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Richard Vadon


SUN 14:00 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.


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m002rq8t)
Gone with the Wind - Episode Three

In the series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work, John Yorke concludes 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 third and final episode, John considers the themes of nostalgia and survival that made Gone with the Wind such a phenomenal hit when it was published at the height of the Great Depression in 1936. And he explores the complexity of the book’s legacy today.

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 what the book offers readers today. Is it a classic of American fiction or an extremely uncomfortable, racist period piece? And they ask if we should even read it at all.

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 (m002rm2r)
Gone with the Wind: Episode 3

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 Three: After the attack outside Shantytown, Sam has endangered himself by saving Scarlett, and the tension and danger continues to mount in Atlanta.

Scarlett ..... Samantha Dakin
Rhett ..... Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Ashley ..... Joseph May
Melanie ..... Rebekah Murrell
Aunt Pitty ..... Laurel Lefkow
Honey ..... Madeline Charlemagne
Peter ..... David Webber
Dr Meade ..... Sam Dale
Belle ..... Clare Corbett
Captain ..... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

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 (m002rq8w)
John Lanchester

Bestselling author John Lanchester speaks to Take Four Books about his latest novel Look What You Made Me Do. Together with presenter James Crawford, they explore its connections to three other literary works. In black comedy Look What You Made Me Do, the lives of young TV writer Phoebe and 50-something metropolitan Kate become intertwined as the most talked about television show of the year seems to contain eerie similarities to the intimacies of Kate's marriage.

John’s three chosen influences for this episode are Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym from 1953; Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh from 1928; and Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut from 1963.

Producer: Caitlin Sneddon
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This is a BBC Audio Scotland production.


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m002rq8y)
Series 39

Heat 8, 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 ‘Make The Connection', 'Pop Goes The Politician' and 'Music And Musicians From Yorkshire'.

Producer: Tom Du Croz
Production coordinator: Jodie Charman

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct74nl)
Birth of the G7

In November 1975, a summit took place at Rambouillet, France, where the heads of six of the world’s most industrialised nations and their finance ministers came together.

The leaders of the US, France, Germany, Britain, Japan and Italy hoped to solve the ongoing economic crisis. The summit marked the birth of an institution now known as the G7. France’s former Finance Minister, Jean-Pierre Fourcade, was at the conference. He speaks to Ben Henderson.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: The closing session of the summit at Rambouillet Castle. Credit: AFP via Getty images)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m002rq94)
George Szirtes, Iryna Starovoyt, Zain Rishi, Katie Clarke

George Szirtes, winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize and the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry, is the most recent poet to join the small selection panel for arguably the UK's most public celebration of poetry - Poems on the Underground. As the London Tube initiative reaches its 40th birthday, George discusses how poems are chosen and shares some poetry that he feels speaks to the strength of the scheme.

Depending on how you count it, this month marks the 4th or the 12th anniversary of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia - a conflict in which poetry has become a player. Iryna Starovoyt is a poet and critic from Ukraine. She reflects on the 19th century poet and artist Taras Shevchenko - regarded as a totemic figure in Ukrainian literature, and whose name is on the country's highest award for Arts and Culture, the Taras Shevchenko National Prize.

Katie Clarke, Director of Literature at The Reader organisation, shares her experiences of reading poetry with people who have dementia and the surprising power of poetry to make fresh connections at the individual and group level.

Zain Rishi's debut poetry pamphlet, Noon, is published this month. He becomes the latest poet to choose a Neon Line for The Verb's regular feature in which poets reflect on poetry lines that they feel shine out.

Presenter: Ian McMillan
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002rq98)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m002rq9d)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rq9j)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m002rq9n)
Andrew Peach

This week, Andrew is featuring two of Radio 4’s finest Emmas - Barnett and Freud. He delves into the showbiz flex that Graham Norton’s been keeping a secret for months. Prince William talks mental health with rappers Professor Green and Guvna B on Radio 1. Plus Andrew reminisces about the day he met Larry the cat at 10 Downing Street.

Presenter: Andrew Peach

Producer: Emily Esson

Production Coordinators: Caroline Peddle and Minnie Harrop

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m002rq9s)
The Archers

Chelsea’s getting more hopeful about her business plans, and David is reluctantly learning how to recruit volunteers.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002rq9x)
The Extractor

Hilik Magnus is Israel’s foremost search and rescue specialist. He has performed missions, public and private, for over 30 years across six continents. He has worked under the radar during disasters such as 2004’s tsunami and 2008’s Mumbai attacks. He has worked with everyone, from grieving families to cartels and the Taliban, all for the simple purpose of returning people to where they belong.

Now, he opens up about this secretive world, and talks frankly about his origins and values.

The start, in the 1990s, was simple. His operating base was an abandoned train carriage in the southern desert of Israel with three telephones and a dial-up connection. Hilik did not know what awaited him. All he knew was that he felt a ‘shlichut’ – ‘higher purpose’ in Hebrew – to help save lives, to return the unburied to their grieving families.

Yet the business grew and now employs 80 people in a hi-tech hub in Tel Aviv. There is GPS, GSM, fibre-optic, and over 2,500 calls for help every year.

In the midst of this change, Hilik is finding it hard to connect the now and then. For him, the purity of the work was in shepherding lost souls, alive or dead, to their rightful place. Strange, mystical encounters at 6,000m above sea-level, exposing national corruption in Bolivia - not board meetings and touchscreens. He hates the city and all it implies. Yet the world moves on, and the work means everything to him. When he lets himself stop, his 76 years catch up with him, leading to days laid up in bed.

Producer: Jeremy Neumark Jones
Assistant Producer, Additional Research: Robert Neumark Jones
Original Music by Theo Whitworth
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Lent Talks (m002rqb1)
Power and Poverty

A series of personal reflections on power inspired by the story of Jesus’ Passion.

Six essays tracing the hidden currents of power in everyday life: how it shapes us, how it works, how it wounds, and how it can be resisted, claimed, and reclaimed.

In this episode, Keely Dalfen – CEO of ‘The Brick’, an organisation tackling homelessness and deprivation in Wigan – explores power and poverty.

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SUN 20:00 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


SUN 20:30 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


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002rq6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rq83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002rq66)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m002rqb4)
The government's SEND reforms and youth unemployment

Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 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.


SUN 23:45 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.

MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2026

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m002rqb6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 00:15 Soul Music (m002pptq)
Yellow by Coldplay

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..."

True stories of what Yellow, one of Coldplay's most iconic songs, means to people 25 years on from its release.

It's December 1999 and a relatively unknown band called Coldplay are midway through recording their debut studio album, Parachutes, at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The days are long, often working late into the evening. One night after a recording session, they step outside with their producer Ken, and look up to a sky full of stars. The rest, as they say, is history...

Featuring, in order of appearance:
Dylan Bode, musician and coma survivor
Ken Nelson, music producer on Coldplay's Parachutes album
Debs Wild, fan liaison for Coldplay and author of Life In Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay
Neil Brand, composer, writer and broadcaster
Katherine Ho, singer of the Mandarin version of Yellow for the film Crazy Rich Asians

Producer: Becky Ripley


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002rq7m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rqb8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rqbb)
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 (m002rqbd)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Last Word (m002rf0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:30 on Sunday]


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rqbg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rqbk)
Walkies

Good morning.

I’ll be off to walk the dog in a while, with my usual nod to the familiar faces of other local dog owners, and maybe a ‘Morning!’. At the same time, my dog will greet their dogs. Funny that – how we generally say hello to our own kind.

And it’s not just dogs greeting dogs, and dog owners greeting owners. I’ve seen cyclists will greet cyclists, I’m sure the couriers will greet other couriers, just as the birds will call to other birds, and lorry drivers will do that odd indicator light thing to other lorry drivers.

Are we forever destined to stick to our own tribes? Joggers to joggers, builders to builders, shopkeepers to shopkeepers... Am I imagining it? I just know for sure, that when I have a dog, dog owners greet me, and when I don’t, they don’t. And I do the same.

Yet I recall Jesus told us to love our neighbours, and when he was asked ‘Who is my neighbour?’, he told of the Good Samaritan, to demonstrate that we should show love to those who are unlike us. To look for the different people, showing care and compassion to them.

Not easy, but maybe I’ll start on this morning’s dog walk, and ask a delivery driver how he’s doing. Baby steps.

So I pray to God, who made us all equal in his eyes, please help us remember that. Bless those unlike me. Help me look out for those, where at first glance we don’t seem to have much in common, and help us find our commonalities, showing love and understanding, as we walk through life today, with or without dogs.

Amen


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m002rqbp)
The government's announced a new 10 year plan for controlling deer numbers in England. It estimates that a third of woodlands are damaged by deer and says immediate action is needed to protect trees and crops.

A project in the Ashdown Forest aims to persuade more people to eat venison. Deer managers are working with the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, and with apprentice butchers at Plumpton College.

BBC News NI has obtained figures showing there have been over 150 farm related accidents in Northern Ireland between 2019-2025. We hear from a musician whose career was jeopardised by a machinery accident on the family farm.

Presenter: Charlotte Smith
Producer: Sarah Swadling


MON 05:57 Weather (m002rqbt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m002rqp9)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m002rqpc)
Thinking about war

How do we think about war? How do we imagine it, picture it and explain it? Adam Rutherford hosts Radio 4's discussion programme which starts the week, asking what we can learn about ourselves from our varied intellectual and cultural responses to conflict.

Sir Lawrence Freedman is one of the world's leading scholars of warfare. In his new collection of essays, On Strategists and Strategy, he considers some of the key strategic thinkers of the last century and thoughts about the significance of political calculation, military tactics, organisational behaviour, character and psychology.

A new exhibition opens in March at the Imperial War Museum, London titled Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art. The curator Rebecca Newell explains what we learn from the ways in which artists recorded changes to the city during the Second World War in paintings, drawings and film.

The Hôtel Lutetia, the grand hotel on Paris's Left Bank, has over the years drawn bohemians and great artists, including Matisse and Picasso. However, for a short period around the Second World War, the hotel was witness to significant events. Jane Rogoyska's new book Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War peoples the hotel with the intellectual and refugees gathering there in the 1930s, the men of the German military intelligence service who made it their headquarters and the deportees returning from concentration camps.

Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m002rqpf)
A space to just be

Matthew Hyndman, also known as Matty, is a former contestant in the BBC One series of The Traitors. He's the founder of the Wee Gay Hike Club, and he tells Rachel Burden how he hopes the group can be a space for LGBTQ+ people and their allies to find community, connect with the outdoors and enjoy nature.

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
Researcher: Daisy Herman
Sound Design: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Clare Fordham


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rqph)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Toxic! (m002rqpk)
Swept Under the Rug

Plastic is fantastic! It can be super tough, super flexible, SUPER durable – all characteristics that have made it indispensable to modern life. But over time, plastics don’t disappear. They break down into tiny fragments called microplastics, and these fragments get everywhere. They’ve been found in bottled water, in Himalayan rock salt, even inside hard-boiled eggs. More disturbingly still, research from the past few years suggests that they don’t just pass through us, but can persist in our bodies (and possibly even our brains).

In this second episode of Toxic!, materials scientist Mark Miodownik investigates how we ingest and inhale microplastics in their thousands every day. He discovers the little practical changes we can all make to reduce our exposure and encounters the cutting-edge technology that may soon allow scientists to “see” microplastics throughout our bodies.

Locking into the living room – but sadly with no time to put their feet up – Mark and producer Mel reveal the surprising hiding places there for microplastics, PFAS and another class of toxin not usually associated with our homes: parasiticides. The pair flea-treat Mel’s cat and uncover the frightening potential human health and environmental impacts of us using these chemicals en masse to keep our beloved pets parasite-free.

Series Producer: Mel Brown
Researcher: Alex Rodway
A BBC Studios Production


MON 11:45 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rqpm)
The Refugee

Pioneering forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead has spent thirty years as a therapist in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community.

In UNSPEAKABLE we witness her work with patients in the aftermath of distressing and traumatic events and see how speech, language and silence can influence recovery after catastrophe.

Dr Adshead was the BBC Reith Lecturer in 2024.

PART ONE – THE REFUGEE
Dr Adshead works with a widow who finds it impossible to say her husband's name.

Read by Gwen Adshead
Written by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane


MON 12:00 News Summary (m002rqpp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m002rqpr)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m002rqpt)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m002rqpw)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


MON 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvy2)
Impulsive

6. Chasing Losses

Lucy’s on her lunchbreak when she tries her first scratchcard - soon, she’s hooked. She’s never been interested in gambling before, but after a few months the glove compartment of her car is full of scratchcards. And then she starts gambling online…

Lucy’s taking a medication called Aripiprazole for her mental health condition. It’s a partial dopamine agonist - a different mechanism to the dopamine agonist drugs used for Parkinson’s and Restless Legs Syndrome that we’ve heard about in previous episodes.

But it’s got similar side effects. For Lucy, this means compulsive eating, hypersexuality - and a gambling problem that’s spiralling out of control.

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 (m002rq9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Relativity (m001cf5h)
Series 4

Episode 5

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 5
Jane and Ian delve into family nostalgia as she looks after him post op. Pete struggles to look after the three children on his own while giving up alcohol. Ken becomes an unlikely hero when a forlorn stranger breaks into the house.

Cast:
Ken………………….Phil Davis
Margaret……………..Alison Steadman
Jake………………….Guy Rhys
Ian…………………...Richard Herring
Jane…………………..Fenella Woolgar
Pete…………………..Gordon Kennedy
Holly………………….Tia Bannon
Mark………………….Fred Haig
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 (m002rq8t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Sunday]


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m002rqpy)
Martin Edwards and Tom Shakespeare

This week's books are:

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie, chosen by crime writer Martin Edwards
At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien, chosen by sociologist, bioethicist and comedian Tom Shakespeare
Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pineiro, chosen by Harriett Gilbert

Join us over on Instagram @agoodreadbbc

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Sally Heaven

Photo credit: Belinda Mason


MON 15:30 You're Dead to Me (m002rq61)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]


MON 16:00 Currently (m002rq8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m002rq63)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m002rqq0)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rqq2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m002rd1w)
Series 96

4. Do you remember the programme Changing Rooms?

Rachel and Cariad reveal their worst ever birthday presents and hope their families aren't listening. Paterson gets competitive in the Shakespeare round and Sue asks the all important question - what's in your bumbag?

Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Paul Merton, Paterson Joseph, Rachel Parris, Cariad Lloyd
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 (m002rqlq)
Susan and Helen are on a quest to find new staff for the dairy, and Chris and Hannah despair for the future of Ambridge Cricket.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m002rqq4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 20:00 How Did We Get Here? (m002rqq6)
Israel and the Palestinians

3: From the Nineteenth Century to the First World War

In the third of ten programmes exploring the origins and tracing the history of the Middle East conflict, presenter Jonny Dymond is joined by Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford University, and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore. What kind of people lived in Ottoman-ruled Palestine in the early Nineteenth Century? What were the origins of Zionism? How did Arabs react to Jewish immigration into Palestine in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries – and what was the nature of Palestinian Arab identity in this period? Why were the Great Powers so interested in the region at this time? And what was the significance of the Sykes-Picot Agreement – a plan by Britain, France and Russia to divide the Middle East between them?

'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 (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


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m002rqpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m002rqpf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rqq8)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 Salt by Catrin Kean (m002rqqb)
1. Departure

1880s Cardiff is grimy, rainy and grey. Ellen works as a domestic and dreams of escaping her claustrophobic home life. When her brother returns home from his latest stint at sea, he introduces Ellen to Samuel, a ship's cook from Barbados. When Samuel asks her to be his wife, it's the beginning of a love story that will see them journey across the ocean to San Francisco and Barbados, and which will force them to confront the realities of poverty and racism.

Salt was the winner of the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award, the 2021 Rhys Davies Fiction award, and the Wales Arts Review People's Choice Award. It was Catrin Kean's debut novel. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a BAFTA Cymru award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the BBC Wales drama Belonging. Her second novel, Lace, was published in 2024.

Read by Kezrena James
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Produced by Fay Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


MON 23:00 Limelight (m001glc8)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall

Episode 6

Based on the novel by James Swallow
Dramatised by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Episode 6

A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher, and his daughter Sarah regroup on the Paladin, where they strong-arm Kobin into giving up more information. Meanwhile, Stone is sent to terminate any suspicions on the T-Tech Oil Rig.

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
Andriy Kobin ..... Riad Richie
Eighteen ..... Olga Fedori
Bray ..... Roger Ringrose
LeBeau ..... David Hounslow

Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Directed by Jessica Mitic
Series Co-Produced by Nadia Molinari, Lorna Newman, Jessica Mitic

A BBC Audio Drama North Production


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002rqqd)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2026

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m002rqqg)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rqpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rqqj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rqql)
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 (m002rqqn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002rqqq)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rqqs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rqqv)
SOS

Good morning.

I recently discovered a new emergency way to pray. I wish I didn’t have to.

It has been, in our family, a time of emergencies. I lost my dad not long ago, after what a well-meaning clinician called ‘our dementia adventure’. Not an adventure we’d have chosen. Now we’ve disembarked that rollercoaster, I can look back at how we coped, or at least did our best.

Cognitive medical conditions are tricky to navigate. There isn’t one simple course of treatment, and we had countless troubled meetings with clinicians and others, in what felt like crisis after crisis. So I’d send up prayer after prayer, for help in getting through each one.

Two other relevant things about me: I’m an old radio enthusiast, and I’ve been known to tap my fingers when stressed. How does that tie together? Well, that famous SOS distress call, in Morse code, is dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot.

It saved lives on the Titanic and countless other disasters, it’s known the world over, and in several meetings, when anxious and concerned, I’d discretely tap it out on my leg, under the table of a doctor’s office. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot. A metaphorical flare of a prayer. Asking: help me out God.

Radio operators have tapped out similar emergency messages, and I too needed help navigating, feeling lost at sea, seeing no easy route ahead.

I pray this morning for those who feel likewise. God, bring peace to times of turbulence. Thank you that we can communicate in thought, word or even Morse. In times of crisis, hear our distress call, till waters calm again.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m002rqqx)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m002rql4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Intrigue (m002q86z)
Ransom Man

6. Nameless, Faceless People

Crossing the road between interviews, Jenny receives the opportunity she has been waiting for. A chance to meet Julius Kivimäki and finally seek answers from him.

She heads to Turku prison in Western Finland, where Kivimäki is serving his sentence.

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 (m002rql7)
Is the tide turning on ME research?

ME – also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – has long been one of medicine’s most perplexing conditions. With no definitive diagnostic test and a legacy of scepticism in parts of the medical community, patients have often struggled to be believed. But a surge of new research may finally be shifting the landscape.

The emergence of Long COVID – a condition with striking similarities to ME – has accelerated scientific interest and opened new lines of inquiry into the underlying biology of both illnesses.

In this episode, James Gallagher speaks to Dr Chris Ponting about the latest DecodeME results, which point to a strong genetic component to ME. And Professor Rosemary Boyton outlines the ambition behind the new Rosetta Stone study, designed to build a detailed evidence base of shared biomarkers across ME and Long COVID.

James also hears from Catherine and Jo, who have lived with ME for many years. They describe their diagnostic journeys and how they manage their symptoms in their daily lives.

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell
Researcher: Tom Hunt
Editors: Erika Wright and Ilan Goodman


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rql9)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 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


TUE 11:45 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rqlc)
The Lucky Ones (part 1)

Pioneering forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead has spent thirty years as a therapist in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community.

In UNSPEAKABLE we witness her work with patients in the aftermath of distressing and traumatic events and see how speech, language and silence can influence recovery after catastrophe.

Dr Adshead was the BBC Reith Lecturer in 2024.

PART TWO – THE LUCKY ONES - part one
Dr Adshead interviews the survivors of a helicopter crash. Each has a very different experience of the event and the aftermath.

Read by Gwen Adshead
Written by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m002rqlg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m002rqlj)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m002rqll)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m002rqln)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


TUE 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvy0)
Impulsive

7. Missed connections

Lucy’s stumbled on a connection between her gambling problem and her medication. But her mental health team says they don’t know what she’s talking about.

Freddie’s reached breaking point. And, one day, he notices his dad’s medication leaflet on the kitchen table, sparking a full-blown crisis.

It’s been known for more than two decades that drugs affecting dopamine levels in the brain have potential side effects including impulse control disorders like hypersexuality, or compulsive shopping or gambling.

Warnings have been added to patient information leaflets - but many of the people who’ve contacted BBC investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge about their experiences say the risks weren’t made clear.

Why weren’t they warned about the potential side effects of these medications before it was too late?

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 (m002rqlq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 This Thing of Darkness (m002r78l)
Series 4

4. Involuntary Breach

by Frances Poet with monologues by Eileen Horne.

Part Four – Involuntary Breach

As the pressure builds within the secure unit housing Kathleen and Abi, Kathleen’s daughter returns to the table for family therapy. She’s about to come face to face with Abi who is intent on destruction.

And in turn, Abi will face Alex who has a very different interpretation of Abi's apparent psychopathy.


DR ALEX BRIDGES ….. Lolita Chakrabarti
KATHLEEN ….. Maureen Beattie
LINDSAY ….. Helen Mackay
ABI ….. Anna Russell-Martin
DANIEL ….. Nicholas Karimi

Production Coordinators: Rosalind Gibson and Ellie Marsh
Sound recording : Andy Hay and Fraser Jackson
Sound Design: Fraser Jackson

Series Consultant: Dr Gwen Adshead

Series format created by Lucia Haynes, Audrey Gillan, Eileen Horne, Gaynor Macfarlane, Anita Vettesse and Kirsty Williams.


A BBC Audio Scotland Production produced and directed by Kirsty Williams


You’ll find details of help and support with dementia related issues at bbc.co.uk/actionline


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (p0lmnr8q)
Cardinal Sin and the Bandit Radio

In the Philippines, an archbishop takes to the airwaves and calls for his people to rise up against a dictatorship.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios Audio production.

Producer: Lorna Reader
Series producer: Suniti Somaiya
Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m002rqlt)
The demise of Grand Theory?

What explains the apparent decline of grand theory in sociology, and what does this shift mean for the discipline today? Laurie Taylor asks whether sociologists are now less inclined to engage with large, overarching theoretical frameworks, and explores the reasons behind this change.

He is joined by Professor Les Back (University of Glasgow) and Professor Imogen Tyler (University of Lancaster), who consider whether theory still resonates within contemporary sociology and, if so, which thinkers remain most influential. Who are the discipline’s most cited theorists today, and which grand figures - such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Foucault - continue to shape sociological thought?

It may be argued that theory remains stronger within feminist and women’s studies traditions, but what does this suggest about long‑standing questions concerning the gendered character of theory itself?

Laurie Taylor and guests set out to consider which new or emerging theoretical approaches offer fresh ways of understanding familiar social phenomena, and whether they signal a transformation in the discipline or simply a reworking of older sociological concerns.

Producer: Natalia Fernandez


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m001yqy5)
Odes to Joy

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time in Vienna on the 7th of May, 1824. There’s a sense in which that premiere, in the Theater am Kärntnertor at the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the moment when two distinct reception histories began: that of an epic orchestral piece which ends with a choral setting of An die Freude, a work that has become a cornerstone of the so-called canon of Western Classical music; and the history of a simple theme, the Ode to Joy, a catchy tune, eminently whistleable, that has since had a life of its own, travelling far and wide across over two hundred years to the present day.

Political leaders (from centre, the left and the right), grassroots protest movements, institutions, nations, car brands, comedians, broadcasters - all have found something in the Ode to Joy that has come to serve their aims or projects. Detached from its original context (as the finale of a symphony), Beethoven’s melody carries its various meanings and associations (freedom, brotherhood, sophistication, power, heroic struggle) into the new contexts in which it’s heard. The resulting emotions - inspiration, euphoria, amusement, horror - might well depend on your point of view.

This radiophonic exploration brings together fragments and scenes from the BBC archives with new reflections from Professors Esteban Buch, Robert Fink, Lydia Goehr, Peter Höyng and Naomi Waltham-Smith together with orchestral and opera conductor Naomi Woo.

Produced by Phil Smith
Sound mix by Mike Woolley
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m002rqlw)
How can we better understand endometriosis?

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

In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into endometriosis, a condition that occurs when cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other areas of the body. It affects around one in ten women of reproductive age, often causing severe pain, mental health issues and in some cases, it can result in infertility. In this episode, the doctors discuss the symptoms of endometriosis, the theories about its biological mechanisms and underlying cause, and why the condition is under-researched and under-funded, resulting in patients waiting on average 7.5 years to be diagnosed.

Joining them to discuss this is Dr Chi Eziefula, Associate Professor in Global Health and Infection at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and an Honorary Consultant physician.

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

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Dr Chi Eziefula
Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis and Faye Lyons-White
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Jo Rowntree
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 (m002rqly)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rqm0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Wing It (m0025ssb)
Series 1

1. The Cow Who Flew Through the Moon

In the first episode of this brand new series, Alasdair Beckett-King plays host to a panel of improv comedy all stars, playing games full of squabbling siblings, cows with dreams and gentle parenting gone too far.

"No Script. No Prep. No Clue."

Presented by Alasdair Beckett-King.

Starring Cariad Lloyd, Steen Raskopoulos, Alexander Jeremy, and Emma Sidi.

Devised by Shoot From The Hip

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Joe Bayley

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m002rqm2)
Lilian throws a spanner in the works, and there’s a glimmer of hope for David in his quest for volunteers.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m002rqm4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002rqm6)
News-making original journalism investigating stories at home and abroad.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m002rqm8)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted


TUE 21:00 Illuminated (m002rq9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


TUE 21:30 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


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rqmb)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 Salt by Catrin Kean (m002rqmd)
2. The Ship

1880s Cardiff is grimy, rainy and grey. Ellen works as a domestic and dreams of escaping her claustrophobic home life. When her brother returns home from his latest stint at sea, he introduces Ellen to Samuel, a ship's cook from Barbados. When Samuel asks her to be his wife, it's the beginning of a love story that will see them journey across the ocean to San Francisco and Barbados, and which will force them to confront the realities of poverty and racism.

Salt was the winner of the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award, the 2021 Rhys Davies Fiction award, and the Wales Arts Review People's Choice Award. It was Catrin Kean's debut novel. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a BAFTA Cymru award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the BBC Wales drama Belonging. Her second novel, Lace, was published in 2024.

Read by Kezrena James
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Produced by Fay Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


TUE 23:00 Artworks (m002krhm)
Who Is the Door-to-Door Poet?

Poet Rowan McCabe meets ordinary people and brings poetry into their homes, or rather their doorsteps. Born and raised on a council estate in Hebburn, South Tyneside, Rowan has appointed himself the world's first Door-to-Door Poet.

He has travelled to the UK's most complicated, divided, and isolated places, knocking on strangers' doors and asking them what is important to them. He then writes a poem about their unique stories, their unexpected passions, and their fears, before performing it on their doorstep, free of charge.

It's sort of like the Avon lady, but with rhymes. Hear a brand new adventure which takes him to Donegal, Ireland in a bid to reconnect with his heritage and his poetry.

Presenter: Rowan McCabe
Producer: Olivia Swift
Executive Producer: Geoff Bird
Mixing Engineer: Eloise Whitmore
Programme image by picturesbybish
A Reform Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002rqmh)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2026

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m002rqmk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rqlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rqmm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rqmp)
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 (m002rqmr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002rqmt)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rqmw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rqmy)
Knox’s Hoax

Good morning.

I have an odd hobby – recreating lost broadcasts. Recently I had a blast – literally – re-enacting radio’s first hoax, on the early BBC 100 years ago.

The prankster behind it was a priest, Father Ronald Knox. Man of the cloth, and man of words, twinkle in his eye. He wrote books, satires, and a 1926 radio drama: a spoof news broadcast. The problem was, many Brits were just getting radio sets. Many believed what they heard.

So when Father Knox impersonated a newsreader, announcing a mob with trench mortars... listeners panicked – more-so when they heard they’d felled Big Ben. Father Knox thought listeners would get the joke, when he corrected that the Minister of Traffic hadn’t been strung up on a lamp-post, but a tram-way post. Or when he said rioters were storming his radio studio, but that they’d stopped in the waiting-room to read the Radio Times.

There were clues it was fake news. The mob’s leader was Mr Poppleberry, leader of the Movement for the Abolition of Theatre Queues. But listeners fleeing in panic didn’t stick around to hear it.

I had fun recreating this lost broadcast – explosions and all – but I appreciated Father Knox’s serious side too. He translated the entire Bible. He wrote a defence of Catholicism. And he wrote about prayer: that when prayer seems difficult, remember God knows you personally, his devotion “in the unheard whisper with which he calls you”, his own sheep, by name.

I give thanks that God made us multi-faceted – that the serious can find silliness, that priests can be pranksters, and that just as he knew Father Ronald Knox by name, he knows you and me too.

Amen


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m002rqn0)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 06:00 Today (m002rs97)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Sideways (m002rs99)
82. Scream Queen

As a young girl, Djamila Azzouz loved performing - musical theatre, choirs. She loved nothing more than the thrill of entertaining an audience. But in her teenage years, mental health issues made her shy away from a career that would put her in the spotlight.
When even singing itself became difficult, she found a surprising alternative: screaming. But as a woman, her raw, unfiltered expression often clashed with social expectations, even on the metal music scene.

Matthew Syed explores how, throughout history, women's screams have frequently been tightly controlled, accepted only in specific contexts. And considers whether there are signs of a shift towards greater acceptance and empowerment through screaming, even in horror, where traditionally scream queens have conveyed fear, pleasure, or vulnerability.

With Ithaca’s vocalist Djamila Azzouz, vocal coach Melissa Cross, behavioural and data scientist Professor Pragya Agarwal, and Elizabeth Erwin, researcher in film and media at LeHigh University, Pennsylvania.

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


WED 09:30 The History Bureau (m002qjs7)
Putin and the Apartment Bombs

6. The Trial

A trial of two suspected bombers seems to offer closure – but is this really case closed?

As Mikhael Trepashkin prepares to present evidence that might shed light on what really happened in 1999, he's thrown into prison. And as the verdict looms for two suspected bombers, so does an unsettling truth about how the Kremlin uses moments of crisis to tighten its grip. In this episode, Helena speaks to Steven Lee Myers, the former New York Times Moscow Bureau Chief who watched Putin consolidate his power in the years after the bombings.

In Season 1 of The History Bureau, presenter Helena Merriman returns to one of the most contested - and consequential - stories in modern Russia. In September 1999, just weeks after Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings across Russia. The bombs exploded in the middle of the night, killing hundreds of people while they slept. In this season, Merriman returns to the story with the reporters who were there on the ground. What did they get right first time around? And, in the chaos and confusion of unfolding events, what did they miss?

Presenter: Helena Merriman
Series Producer: Sarah Shebbeare
Executive Editor: Annie Brown


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rs9c)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m002rqm6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:40 This Week in History (m002rs9f)
February 23rd to March 1st

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

This week: 23rd February to 1st March

24th February 1999 - The Metropolitan police force was branded "institutionally racist" by the Macpherson Report which examined the murder of the black teenager, Stephen Lawrence.
1st March 1565 - The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by the Portuguese.
26th February 1839 - The first Grand National was run at Aintree. Then called the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, it was won by a horse called Lottery


WED 11:45 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rs9h)
The Lucky Ones (part 2)

Pioneering forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Dr Gwen Adshead, has spent thirty years as a therapist in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community.

In UNSPEAKABLE we witness her work with patients in the aftermath of distressing and traumatic events and see how speech, language and silence can influence recovery after catastrophe.

Dr Adshead was the BBC Reith Lecturer in 2024.

PART THREE - THE LUCKY ONES - part 2
Three survivors of a helicopter crash have very different responses to the incident and in how they have coped in the aftermath.

Read by Gwen Adshead
Written by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane


WED 12:00 News Summary (m002rs9k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m002rs9m)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m002rs9p)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m002rs9r)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


WED 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvy4)
Impulsive

8. Collateral

Andrew’s a respected local solicitor when one day he’s arrested. He has defrauded his elderly clients of more than £600,000, which he’s spent on sex workers and antiques.

His wife Frances and daughter Alice are shocked - this seems completely out of character. Then they learn there could be a connection to Andrew’s Parkinson’s medication.

But will the judge accept this as mitigation for his crimes?

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 (m002rqm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002rs9t)
The People's Crusade : A Story for Britain

After a landslide win for a new county council, Marianne and the community must decide where their allegiances lie.

Jonathan Myerson’s new drama explores the new politics forming across the country as the old norms no longer apply. Is this just about which flag is flying on the public buildings or is there a tectonic shift taking place?

The People’s Crusade by Jonathan Myerson

Marianne ..... Sandra Huggett
Catherine ..... Elexi Walker
Keith ..... David Hunter
Donna ..... Sarah Ball
Adam ..... Nick Chambers
Jerry ..... David Hartley
Tom ..... Charles Armstrong

Production Coordinator: Shemiza Rashid
Sound design: Alisdair McGregor
Producer and director: Boz Temple-Morris

A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 The Law Show (m002rs9w)
What is Misconduct in a Public Office?

The King's brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, and the former US ambassador, Peter Mandelson are being investigated by police, accused of Misconduct in a Public Office.

It comes after claims in the Epstein files about their actions when Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was a trade envoy and Peter Mandelson was a government minister. Both were friends with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Appearing in the files is not an indication of any wrongdoing.

Misconduct in a Public Office is a common law offence that dates back hundreds of years, and has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. But the Law Commission of England and Wales says it's "ill-defined and has been subject to recent criticism by the Government, the Court of Appeal, the press and legal academics".

In the past, it was applied less often, and there is a high bar before prosecutions are considered. Prosecutions have risen sharply in the last few years, and the vast majority of those convicted have been prison officers or police officers.

Now, new accountability legislation is going through Parliament - which will make the common law obsolete.

But for the moment, the common law applies. So how did it evolve, who does it apply to, how does it work in practice?

Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Senior Producer: Ravi Naik
Producer: Charlotte Rowles


WED 15:30 The Artificial Human (m002rs9y)
Are Large Language Models a Dead End?

Chat GPT, Gemini etc are most people's idea of artificial intelligence. But are the limitations of the large language models (LLMs) that underpin them an obstacle to achieving Ai that understand the world beyond what its learnt from the internet. That's increasingly the opinion of leading researchers who despite the industries fixation with LLMs are voting with their feet and setting up their own research labs to look at other ways to achieve Ai.

Aleks and Kevin talk with Michael Woolridge, Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford to understand why he thinks LLMs are a hack, before speaking with long time tech innovator Jeff Hawkins about his why his 1000 brains Ai project could produce models that actually understand the world much more like we do.

Presenters: Aleks Krotoski and Kevin Fong
Producer: Peter McManus
Research: Elizabeth Ann Duffy and Minnie Harrop
Sound: Steve Greenwood and Sean Mullervy


WED 16:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002rrx4)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


WED 16:15 The Media Show (m002rrx6)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.


WED 17:00 PM (m002rsb0)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rsb2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m002rsb4)
Live from the UK

Zoe Lyons, Stuart McPherson, Anna Thomas and Neil Delamere

Host Angela Barnes travels to comedy clubs across the country. In this new run, Angela heads back on on the road to comedy clubs in all 4 nations of the UK

So if you want to know why it's hard to change your sock style after 50, if horses really drink Guinness in Kirkcaldy, and how to respond to smug German bobsledders, then this is the show for you.

In this episode, you can hear;

Zoe Lyons at Brighton Komedia
Stuart McPherson at Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh
Anna Thomas at the Swansea Grand
Neil Delamere at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast

Additional Material by Ruth Husko

Recorded by David Thomas, Sean Kerwin and Davy Neil
Sound design by David Thomas
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002rrwk)
Chelsea follows Susan’s advice, and Brian is grateful to Rex.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m002rsb6)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 20:00 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


WED 20:45 The Bottom Line (m002gq8j)
The Decisions That Made Me

Sonnaz Nooranvary (House of Sonnaz, upholsterer)

Sonnaz Nooranvary thought she’d have to be a doctor or a lawyer to please her parents but struggled academically thanks to a combination of dyslexia and ADHD. Everything changed when she spotted an advert for an upholstery apprenticeship. She dropped out of college to build yachts from scratch. The upholsterer talks to Evan Davis about how she went against her family’s expectations to follow her instincts.

Production team:
Producer: Bob Howard, Georgiana Tudor
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: John Scott
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

(Photo credit: Luke David)


WED 21:00 Intrigue (m002q86z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Inside Health (m002rql7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rsb9)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 Salt by Catrin Kean (m002rsbc)
3. Barbados

1880s Cardiff is grimy, rainy and grey. Ellen works as a domestic and dreams of escaping her claustrophobic home life. When her brother returns home from his latest stint at sea, he introduces Ellen to Samuel, a ship's cook from Barbados. When Samuel asks her to be his wife, it's the beginning of a love story that will see them journey across the ocean to San Francisco and Barbados, and which will force them to confront the realities of poverty and racism.

Salt was the winner of the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award, the 2021 Rhys Davies Fiction award, and the Wales Arts Review People's Choice Award. It was Catrin Kean's debut novel. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a BAFTA Cymru award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the BBC Wales drama Belonging. Her second novel, Lace, was published in 2024.

Read by Kezrena James
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Produced by Fay Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


WED 23:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002rsbf)
Slim's Guide to Life

2. Teenage Years

Comedian and legend of the black circuit, Slim, is turning the book of his lift back to his teenage years.

Going shopping with his mum, moving schools and sneaking out to go raving, Slim had a pretty standard teenage experience, until one day he received a phone call that meant he had to grow up. Fast.

Slim takes us through his teenage years, from being blessed with a spotless face, to his wild first day in the world of work.

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 Aurie Styla: Tech Talk (m002rsbh)
1. Personally, I'm Technically Fit

Comedian Aurie Styla returns to rampage through the history of technology, through his own experience as a self-confessed tech nerd growing up in the 90s, and various things you thought you’d forgotten.

With his interactive, wildly funny style, tonight the focus is on the role tech has played in our fitness lives: for better or worse.

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002rsbk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

THURSDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2026

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m002rsbm)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rs9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rsbp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rsbr)
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 (m002rsbt)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002rsbw)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rsby)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rsc0)
Circus

Good morning – especially if you’re on the road, and especially if you’re in need of a pit stop.

As a jobbing stand-up comic, I do plenty of late-night drives, and not long ago I was heading home, long past midnight, where at a motorway service station, I saw something I’d never seen before. A vast chunk of the car park taken over by... a travelling circus.

They hadn’t pitched tent in the parking bays or anything – they were literally travelling, and needed a comfort break. So out of the lorries and caravans poured dozens of circus professionals, mostly still with hints of their outfits on.

Soon I was entering the building, holding the door for daredevil stunt riders and dancers, queuing for coffee with jugglers, and enjoying a late-night pasty next to a table of clowns.

‘You don’t see that every day,’ I mumbled. ‘Actually, we do,’ said a roadie. Fair point. Their workplace may be a little different, but it’s theirs. And as a stand-up comic myself, surely I too was just another clown – only I wore a suit and shoes that are the right size.

One person’s ‘unusual’ is another’s ‘business as usual’, I guess. Even travelling circuses need to stop travelling now and then. The strongmen need strong coffee, the ringmaster needs to lay down his hat, and as for the clown car in the car park, well the doors were hanging off.

I pray that when our lives feel like a busy circus, we’ll remember to pull in and pause. May we be divinely refreshed and refuelled. And may God, the Almighty ringmaster, bless us all, clowns that we can be, from time to time.

Amen


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m002rsc2)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 06:00 Today (m002rrvx)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002rrvz)
The Columbian Exchange

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the exchange of cultures and biology across the Atlantic and Pacific after 1492. That was when Columbus reached the Bahamas, a time when Europe had no potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers or, arguably, syphilis in its most virulent form; the Americas had no cattle, bananas, sugar cane or smallpox. The lists of what was then exchanged are long and as these flora, fauna and diseases moved between continents, their impact ranged from transformation to devastation. In parts of the Americas, European viruses helped kill over 90 percent of the population. In parts of Europe, Africa and Asia populations boomed on the new American foods. Sheep from Europe grazed fertile land into deserts in some parts, while the lowered populations in others led to local reforestation which, arguably, is linked to a particularly cold period in the Little Ice Age.

With

Rebecca Earle
Professor of History at the University of Warwick

John Lindo
Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University

And

Mark Maslin
Professor of Earth System Science at University College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

In Our Time is a BBC Studios production

Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002rrw1)
Armando is joined again by Stewart Lee.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rrw3)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


THU 11:00 The Body Politic (m00274s8)
Pre-natal screening

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 around the beginning and the end of human life.

In this episode we explore the dilemmas facing women in pregnancy as advances in genetic screening and testing offer information about the foetuses they're carrying. We travel to Denmark where a national screening programme has led a to a big drop in the numbers of babies born with Down Syndrome. We talk to families with children with Down Syndrome, doctors and other experts about this controversial area of bio ethics and the societal consequences of individual choice.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan
Sound design: Hal Haines


THU 11:45 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rrw5)
The Hostage

Pioneering forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Dr Gwen Adshead, has spent thirty years as a therapist in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community.

In UNSPEAKABLE we witness her work with patients in the aftermath of distressing and traumatic events and see how speech, language and silence can influence recovery after catastrophe.

Dr Adshead was the BBC Reith Lecturer in 2024.

PART FOUR - THE HOSTAGE
Dr Adshead treats a man who, as a child, was caught up in an aircraft hijacking.

Read by Gwen Adshead
Written by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane


THU 12:00 News Summary (m002rrw7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Bottom Line (m002rrw9)
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with people at the top giving insight into what matters.


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m002rrwc)
Dough - The Future of Mobile Phones

What will mobile phones be like in future? Greg Foot investigates

Greg Foot, host of the BBC Radio 4 show 'Sliced Bread', brings you 'Dough'.

Each episode explores future wonder products that might rise to success and redefine our lives.

Experts and entrepreneurs discuss the trends shaping what today's everyday technology may look like tomorrow, before a leading futurist offers their predictions on what life might be like within five, ten and fifty years.

This time we’re looking at the future of mobile phones - asking whether our handsets will shrink, stretch, roll, fold… or even disappear as new technology takes over? And will super-smart devices with AI assistants that second-guess our every move become the new normal?

Alongside Greg is the futurist, Tracey Follows, and expert guests: leading strategist in the tech industry, Chetan Sharma, innovator and creator from one of the world’s newest Mobile Phone manufacturers, “Nothing Mobile", their AI and design lead, Sélim Benayat and co-founder and CEO of Honest Mobile, Andy Aitken.

This episode was produced by Linda Walker

Dough is a BBC Audio North Production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


THU 12:57 Weather (m002rrwf)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002rrwh)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


THU 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvy8)
Impulsive

9. Blame Game

Respected local solicitor Andrew is sent to prison - but the devastating impact of the side effects of his Parkinson’s medication continues.

BBC Investigations Correspondent Noel Titheradge has been contacted by more than 200 people about their experience of behavioural side effects of dopamine agonist drugs.

So who’s taking responsibility? We hear from pharmaceutical companies, regulators and doctors. There have been significant developments in the way these drugs are used - but what effect have they had?

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 (m002rrwk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m002rkpj)
Good People

3. The Experiment

A year after they last spoke, Sonia meets Ayad again. Memories of Project Hope’s early days beg an uncomfortable question: was Ayad always looking for the exit?

After all, Project Hope's first few weeks were tough going, especially on Ayad. When local woman Abbie entered their orbit, it finally felt like the group was making real change. What they didn't know then was that Abbie would one day become their fiercest adversary.

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. This is the third episode in an ambitious six-part state of the nation drama from award-winning political writer Steve Waters.

CAST
Sonia ..... Natalie Simpson
Ayad ..... Ikky Kabir
Indigo ..... Alby Baldwin
Faith ..... Anastasia Hille
Kieran ..... Nicholas Armfield
Jackie ..... Jasmine Hyde
Gabe ..... Django Bevan
Abbie ..... Iona Champain
Jake ..... Jimmy Walker
Lars ..... Nigel Pilkington
Shirley ..... Judith Street

Writer ..... Steve Waters
Sound ..... Andy Garratt, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson
Casting Manager ..... Alex Curran
Script Development ..... Abigail Le Fleming
Production Co-ordinator ..... Kate Gray
Assistant Producer ..... Luke MacGregor
Director ..... Anne Isger

A BBC Studios Audio production


THU 15:00 Open Country (m002rrwm)
Savernake Forest

It's an ancient hunting ground with thousands of 'veteran' trees. Henry VIII visited often as it was the seat of the Seymour Family at nearby Wolfhall. Martha visits the forest to learn about its past as well as how ecologist Andy Harris and forester Nikki Morgans manage this special site and aim to 'future proof' it protecting the ancient trees and wildlife for the next thousand years. Historian Graham Bathe helps her measure one of the thousand year old trees and Emma Heard who produces the Weird Wiltshire blog recounts tales of hauntings from the forest.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002rq83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m002rrwp)
The programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002rrwr)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (w3ct8ty1)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m002rrwv)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rrwx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0023htf)
Randy Feltface

3. Air

Randy Feltface is waking up and smelling the coffee. Unfortunately, he’s also smelling carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, benzene, styrene, formaldehyde, arsenic, lead, chromium, benzoapyrene, dioxins, furans and PCBs - but that’s modern-day industry for you. Don’t believe him? Just ask popular Kidz TV presenter Mr Stinky!

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 & 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 (m002rrx0)
Brian tries his hand at matchmaking, and Helen has the time of her life.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m002rrx2)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 20:00 When It Hits the Fan (m002rrx4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 20:15 The Media Show (m002rrx6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:15 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m002rq71)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002rrw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rrx8)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 Salt by Catrin Kean (m002rrxb)
4. Return

1880s Cardiff is grimy, rainy and grey. Ellen works as a domestic and dreams of escaping her claustrophobic home life. When her brother returns home from his latest stint at sea, he introduces Ellen to Samuel, a ship's cook from Barbados. When Samuel asks her to be his wife, it's the beginning of a love story that will see them journey across the ocean to San Francisco and Barbados, and which will force them to confront the realities of poverty and racism.

Salt was the winner of the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award, the 2021 Rhys Davies Fiction award, and the Wales Arts Review People's Choice Award. It was Catrin Kean's debut novel. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a BAFTA Cymru award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the BBC Wales drama Belonging. Her second novel, Lace, was published in 2024.

Read by Kezrena James
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Produced by Fay Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


THU 23:00 Radical with Amol Rajan (m002rrxd)
Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002rrxg)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2026

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002rrxj)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rrw5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002rrxl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002rrxn)
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 (m002rrxq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002rrxs)
News, views and features on yesterday's stories in Parliament


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002rrxv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002rrxx)
You Get What You Get

Good morning.

There’s a phrase our family have quoted ironically for a decade or so:
“You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.”

It was a favourite of our children’s pre-school teacher, when handing out musical instruments to the little ones. You didn’t like the tambourine, and you want a kazoo? Sorry but: “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

We’ve used it on countless occasions. Who gets which seat on a train trip? Who gets which ice cream cone? Other times, it’s a resigned response to anything from bad colds to bad weather. You get wet when you get wet, and you... might get upset.

Thing is, sometimes we do get upset. As life has dealt us illnesses, heartache, bigger crises than we thought we could handle, that same catchphrase has been there waiting for us. Occasionally we mix in that other saying: “It is what it is... and you do get upset...” After all, some things are upsetting. But it doesn’t stop us getting what we’re getting.

Life’s not all ice cream and kazoos – I wish it were. Some seasons, the raincloud stays over our heads a while longer than we wanted.

So I’m praying today, God, give us today our daily bread, but please also, give us only what we can manage today. And when we get more than we think we can deal with, help us grow from it. Give us the resilience we need. And if, when we get what we get, we DO get upset, be with us in our tears. And may there be ice cream and kazoos again very soon – if not at the same time.

Amen


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m002rrxz)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 06:00 Today (m002rt0b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m002rq8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002rt0d)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m002rt0g)
Food Stories from the Philippines

Shaped by centuries colonialism and challenged by climate change, what is future of food for the Philippines? Recent typhoons and floods were the worst seen for almost half a century and the archipelago's food system still bears the influence of Spanish and American control. Dan Saladino meets a new generation of farmers, producers, chefs and campaigners attempting to create a sustainable, delicious and indigenous food future.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


FRI 11:45 Unspeakable: Survival and Transformation After Trauma by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (m002rt0j)
The Trainee

Pioneering forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Dr Gwen Adshead, has spent thirty years as a therapist in secure hospitals, prisons and in the community.

In UNSPEAKABLE we witness her work with patients in the aftermath of distressing and traumatic events and see how speech, language and silence can influence recovery after catastrophe.

Dr Adshead was the BBC Reith Lecturer in 2024.

PART FIVE - THE TRAINEE
Childhood trauma and unspoken secrets impact a trainee at Broadmoor.

Read by Gwen Adshead
Written by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m002rt0l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m002rt0n)
Ocean Explorers

150 years ago the British research ship Challenger returned from a three and a half year voyage that changed the world. Plucking species from every ocean, at depths never explored before, the Challenger kick-started the science of oceanography and paved the way for a world connected by undersea communication cables.

To celebrate the Challenger's legacy, Helen Czerski and Tom Heap are at the world's biggest ocean science conference in Glasgow to ask what the next 150 years may hold. Is the age of the human explorer over, replaced by robots and DNA sampling, or is there still a space for wonder as we explore the depths of our planet's oceans?

Producer: Alasdair Cross
Assistant Producers: Toby Field and Rebecca Rooney

Rare Earth is produced in collaboration with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m002rt0q)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m002rt0s)
News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4


FRI 13:45 Shadow World (m002rvy6)
Impulsive

10. Reflections

Impulse control disorders are a common side effect of dopamine agonist drugs - it’s generally accepted that they will affect around 1 in 6 people taking these drugs for Parkinson’s.

So why are these side effects so hard to talk about? How can people get past their guilt and shame to access the support they need?

And if subtle changes in the activity of chemicals in our brain can cause us to behave so differently - what is personality?

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 (m002rrx0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (m002rt0v)
The Dentist

The Abrasion

Darkly comic crime thriller by D.C. Jackson.

Kerry’s living a life of quiet desperation.
Her identical twin appears to be affluent and successful.
When Kerry turns to her sister for help, the consequences are worse than she could possibly have imagined, for both of them…

Cast:
Leanne and Kerry … Gabriel Quigley
Bob … Grant O’Rourke
Kasia … Leah Bryne
Stewart … Jonathan Watson
The Minister … Gavin Mitchell

Studio Production: Andy Hay and Gav Murchie
Production Coordinator: Ellie Marsh

Original music and sound design: Fraser Jackson
Additional keyboards: Tony Graham

A BBC Audio Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams


FRI 14:45 Life Without (m002rt0y)
Life Without Worms

They wriggle and writhe in the earth beneath us, surely, we’d be fine if they vanished? In this episode of Life Without, Alan Davies looks beneath our feet deep into the soil and the hard workers who live there.

This episode features Mark Hodson, Professor of Environmental Science and soil sister, horticulturist, and founder of GoGrowWithLove, Sandra Salazar D’eca.

An ITN production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002rt10)
Postbag Edition: Ninewells Community Garden

Kathy Clugston and GQT team visit the Ninewells Community Garden in Dundee, while delving into the GQT Postbag.

Kathy's joined by Matthew Pottage, Neil Porteous and Kirsty Wilson.

Producer: Rahnee Prescod

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m002rt12)
The Forgotten Voice by Lisa Zahra

Nia believes in what's before her eyes. Tuna nicoise salad from M&S. Lavender bath salts. Instagram cat videos.
She does not believe in the supernatural.
Until something makes her change her mind.

Short story from Lisa Zahra, read by Kimberley Nixon.
Produced by Fay Lomas
Studio Manager: Rhys Morris
Production Co-ordinators: Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m002rt14)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


FRI 16:30 Sideways (m002rs99)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m002rt16)
News and current affairs, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002rt18)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m002rt1b)
Series 119

Episode 8

Andy Zaltzman is joined by panellists Simon Evans, Ahir Shah, Cindy Yu and Zoe Lyons to break down the week in news.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m002rt1d)
Writer: Liz John
Director: Kim Greengrass
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
David Archer … Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter … Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter … Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother … Nick Barber
Chelsea Horrobin … Madeleine Leslay
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell
Akram Malik … Asif Khan
Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller … Annabelle Dowler
Hannah Riley … Helen Longworth
Lynda Snell … Carole Boyd
Finlay … Mark Bonnar


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m002rt1g)
Debbie Wiseman and Jay Capperauld head to Colombia

Wolf Hall composer Debbie Wiseman and Scottish classical composer Jay Capperauld are Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe's studio guests as they add five more tracks. Starting with a hip-shake in Colombia, they head to South Africa, a state secondary school in London, the firebombing of Dresden, and finally to Honolulu for a Canadian lament.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira
Zithande by Freshlyground
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, by Pink Floyd
String Quartet No 8, 2nd mvt: Allegro Molto by Dmitri Shostakovich
Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m002rt1j)
Topical discussion posing questions to a panel of political and media personalities


FRI 20:55 This Week in History (m002rs9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:40 on Wednesday]


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m002rt1l)
Authority

Is authority a justly unfashionable quality that we should consign to the past? Or does it still have a place in political and business leadership, schools, medical settings and in the home? What is the difference between authority and power, how have historical shifts such as the advent of the internet affected public perceptions of authority, and how much should authority feature in the raising of children?

In Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme about ideas past and present, Anne McElvoy and guests explore these questions and more.

Martin Gurri is a former CIA analyst who writes about the relationship between politics and media who published a book called The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium
Sophie Scott-Brown is a philosopher and historian of anarchism
Peter Hyman is a headteacher and former advisor to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer who writes a Substack, Changing the Story
Tom Simpson is the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

Producer: Eliane Glaser


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m002rt1n)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 Salt by Catrin Kean (m002rt1q)
5. Strangers

1880s Cardiff is grimy, rainy and grey. Ellen works as a domestic and dreams of escaping her claustrophobic home life. When her brother returns home from his latest stint at sea, he introduces Ellen to Samuel, a ship's cook from Barbados. When Samuel asks her to be his wife, it's the beginning of a love story that will see them journey across the ocean to San Francisco and Barbados, and which will force them to confront the realities of poverty and racism.

Salt was the winner of the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award, the 2021 Rhys Davies Fiction award, and the Wales Arts Review People's Choice Award. It was Catrin Kean's debut novel. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a BAFTA Cymru award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the BBC Wales drama Belonging. Her second novel, Lace, was published in 2024.

Read by Kezrena James
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Produced by Fay Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


FRI 23:00 Americast (w3ct8bz6)
Join Americast for insights and analysis on what's happening inside Trump's White House.


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002rt1t)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament